First Brush
by cloudiekp
Summary: Her first brush with the supernatural was pretty uneventful.  She didn't even realized it had happened until years later.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first attempt at fanfic and it's kind of fun :) _

_All recognizable characters and situations are not my own. I'm not that cool. They belong to Stephenie Meyer, of course :)_

_I'd love to know what you think so, please, let me know!_

**Preface**

Her first brush with the supernatural was pretty uneventful. She didn't even realized it had happened until years later. She was 12 and on a family camping trip somewhere outside of Edmonton, Alberta. It was a little cold for her liking (especially for July) and this particular day was rainy and overcast. She couldn't stand being stuck under the tarp her father had put up as shelter any longer. She could only take so much UNO and Phase 10 at once. Her mom could see how antsy she was getting and sent her for a walk up to the little convenience store on the campground to buy some fixings for s'mores.

Grateful for the opportunity to do something, she jumped at the chance. She was especially excited that her mom trusted her to go alone. She felt she was old enough to do things by herself but her parents didn't always agree.

She entered the store and found what she was looking for almost immediately. The camp owners had conveniently placed the graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows right near the front. Not wanting to go back to the campsite so quickly, the young girl walked past the s'mores display and wandered around the store. There wasn't much to look at. A few things that campers might have forgotten like hot dog rolls, matches, charcoal, even some rain ponchos. There were some post cards with pictures of nature and wildlife that you could send home to your friends and family. There was a small display of books and magazines. It was here that her first supernatural encounter occurred.

There was a boy standing by the magazines with a bored look on his face. He glanced up at her as she rounded the corner from the previous aisle. He was thumbing through a magazine with a fancy car on the front. The girl thought he was cute for an older boy. She pegged him for a high schooler or maybe even college.

"Hi," she smiled. She never really bought into the whole "don't talk to strangers" thing. She really liked meeting new people. "I'm Bradley."

The boy looked at her, amused. "Edward," he introduced himself.

"Bummer about the rain. I was hoping the sun would come out for a bit but it doesn't look like that's going to happen," Bradley said, excited to be talking to someone outside her family even if only for a minute and only about the weather.

He smiled at her and shrugged. "I don't mind the rain so much."

"Yeah, you look like maybe you don't get alot of sun." As soon as the words were out of her mouth Bradley regretted them. Her mother had told her she really needed to start filtering her thoughts. She said almost everything that came to mind without thinking them through. She never wanted to offend anyone but she seemed to have no barrier between her thoughts and her mouth.

And it was true anyway. The boy, Edward, was unnaturally pale. His white skin contrasted nicely with his messy auburn hair and dark gold eyes so it worked for him but he looked like he hadn't seen sun in years.

Before she could apologize, Edward chuckled. "Do you say everything that comes to your mind?"

"Yes!" Bradley exclaimed, relieved he wasn't angry with her. "I'm working on it," she assured him. "Are you camping here too?"

Edward nodded. "Family vacation," he said in a tone that Bradley didn't quite understand. There was something under it...sarcasm maybe? She couldn't quite put her finger on it. It seemed to her that Edward was watching her as she pondered his tone.

"Me too. My parents, me and my little brother," she answered wanting to drag out this conversation so she wouldn't have to go back to cards under the tarp. "We got in a couple days ago and we're staying until the end of the week."

Edward just smiled kindly at her. She could tell he was just humoring her like she did her little brother. As she thought this his brow furrowed for a second before his face went back to normal.

"Well," she said, not wanting to force her company on him any longer, "I should go back so my mom doesn't think I got eaten by a bear or something."

The look on Edwards face clearly said "or something" but he smiled at her and said "Ok. Maybe I'll see you around."

"See ya!" Bradley walked back to the s'mores display and picked up what she needed. She made a little small talk with the cashier as she paid for her items and threw a wave back at Edward on her way out.

Bradley came across Edward a couple more times that week. Each time there was just a wave and a "Hey!" called across the basketball court or parking lot. She didn't really think too much about it. Every summer her family went camping but rarely did they camp in the same place. Every summer she met new people. She made friends quickly and really enjoyed her times getting to know people. But these summer friends were just that. Summer friends. She never expected to see them again. She especially didn't give a whole lot of thought to the clearly older Edward.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

Bradley Taylor considered her life to be very normal if not a little boring sometimes. She loved her family, enjoyed the company of her friends and didn't even mind school. She grew up in southern California and loved it there. She loved the warmth, the beaches and the adventures of meeting new people who moved out west looking for adventures of their own.

Bradley loved her family unlike most of the kids she went to school with who did everything they could to avoid their families. Her father, a Canadian by birth, met her mother, a native New Englander, in college. They had moved to California shortly after getting married once her mom finished school. He was an accountant for Disney and she was a high school math teacher. They weren't rich but they were wise with their money and provided a good life for their children. Bradley had only one sibling, a younger brother named Tucker. He was four and a half years younger than she was and she took her job as older sister seriously. She was the one to teach him to ride a bike, shoot a basketball and rollerblade. She played card games and board games and video games with him. They spent countless hours swimming in their backyard pool. Bradley felt like Tucker was shaping up to be a pretty cool kid.

The Taylor family made a point of spending time together. They ate dinner together whenever possible (barring work emergencies and sports schedules) and always took the family camping trip in July. They liked to mix it up and test out different campgrounds rather than going back to the same place every year. They liked to travel to different regions of the US and Canada just to see what each place had to offer. Most of the time they drove and stopped at the ridiculous tourist traps along the way. By the time she was 15, Bradley had seen the world's largest ball of string, had her picture taken with a "UFO" and used a two story outhouse among other random things.

She really did like her life. Bradley was a popular girl although she wouldn't have said so herself. She was just really easy to get along with. She appreciated people for their quirks and made people feel comfortable. She had no tolerance for bullies or people who just sought out to make others feel badly about themselves. She never hesitated to call out someone who was being mean for no reason. The other students who didn't like Bradley were usually girls who were, quite simply, jealous. Bradley was well liked by everyone, pretty and athletic.

Somewhere around the beginning of high school Bradley realized that she really enjoyed volleyball. She had always enjoyed sports and had played the usual soccer, t-ball/softball and basketball growing up. Because her parents were both from cold weather climates (*shudder*) she had even learned to ice skate and play a little hockey. But volleyball was different. She found that it came pretty naturally to her. She could serve a ball exactly where she wanted it and could just see where she needed to be to get to the ball. By the time she was entering her junior year of high school college coaches started to notice her ability too. She was hoping a scholarship was in her future.

But Bradley wasn't thinking about school or volleyball as she and her family pulled into Random Campground, North Dakota. She had long since stopped paying attention to the names of campgrounds. They always had cheesy names that had sun, river, mount, fort or some other nature theme. Bradley usually preferred the camps in the south where the sun was shining and the weather was warm but every couple of years or so her parents insisted they go north. Even though they had lived in southern California for almost 20 years they still missed the cooler climates. Bradley didn't get it.

The Taylors got their camp site from the standard little cabin near the front gate and went to go set up. Bradley and her brother had stopped sharing a tent with their parents years ago but this was going to be the first year that the two of them would not share a tent. Bradley was grateful for the privacy and the fact that changing her clothes would be much easier without the fear of Tucker busting in but at the same time she was a little nervous. Few things scared Bradley but the dark was definitely one of them. She would never have admitted it to anyone but even the presence of her little brother in the same tent was a comfort.

The first night was uneventful. They had their typical first night fare of hot dogs and hamburgers because it was the easiest meal to throw together. They hung out together and laughed and told silly stories about each other. When it was time to head to bed, Bradley's mother pulled her aside and handed her a glow stick with a wink. Bradley loved that her mom understood her irrational fear. There was no judgement there, just love and support. Bradley threw her arms around her mother's neck and kissed her cheek. She gave her father a hug goodnight and tousled Tucker's hair before heading to her tent.

Bradley woke up with the sun the next morning. It was one of the things she kind of liked about camping. She wasn't really a morning person but she liked the lack of a schedule. The sun went down, you go to bed, the comes up, you get up. Life was simple when you were camping. She threw on some clothes, pulled her hair into its usual messy knot on the back of her head and climbed out of her tent. Her mom was already up puttering around in the make-shift kitchen.

"Morning!" her mom greeted her.

"Hey, Mom. I'm going to go for a run. Be back in a little bit." Bradley grabbed a bottle of water and headed out.

She ran along the quite wooded path being careful to avoid tree roots and rocks that looked to trip her up. She wasn't overly fond of running but it was the easiest way for her to stay in shape for volleyball season. And Lord knew that if she wasn't in shape when the season started in a few weeks her coach would mount her head on the wall.

She had her iPod in and was singing along quietly once she got her breathing evened out. She was in her own little world and didn't notice the two boys off the side of the path until she was almost right next to them.

"Whoa!" she cried out when she realized that she wasn't alone. She wasn't expecting to see anyone as she was out and they caught her off guard.

One of the boys made no attempt to hide his laughter. He was a big guy, well over 6 feet tall and very broad. He had dark curly hair and cute dimples. He was shaking with laughter at Bradley's reaction. Even his beautiful gold eyes laughed at her.

"You surprised me! I apparently need to pay more attention to my surroundings," Bradley mused. _Especially if it means I would have missed the cute boy,_ she thought.

An amused snort drew her attention to the other boy. She recognized him immediately. Bradley had always been good with names and faces but this one was easy for her. Even though it had been at least three years since she had last seen him, he hadn't changed a bit. The same pale skin, messy auburn hair and gold colored eyes.

"Hey, Edward!" Bradley exclaimed, shocked to be seeing a familiar face in an unfamiliar setting.

His brow furrowed for a second and Bradley was sure he didn't recognize her. And why would he? She, unlike him, had changed since their last meeting. She had her final growth spurt bringing her to a nice height of 5' 10", her face had lost its childish roundness and her body was definitely more matured than it had been when she was 12.

"Bradley," Edward replied as if they were old friends. He glanced at the other boy, who was scowling for a reason that Bradley didn't understand, and smiled.

"Weird. I didn't think you would recognize me." This drew annoyed grunt from the other boy which Bradley chose to let go. "What are you doing here?"

"Family vacation," Edward replied. Even though the answer was the same as it was three years earlier this time it was said in amusement. "This is my brother, Emmett."

"Hey, Emmett." Bradley reached out her hand to the attractive boy. Emmett hesitated slightly before shaking her hand. She noticed that his hand was freezing but chalked it up to the fact that she had just been running and was a little warm. "Nice to meet you. You guys don't really look too much alike."

"Still working on that not saying everything that comes to mind thing?" Edward chuckled.

"Oops. I really am trying. I think I'm getting better at it."

_Like not telling Emmett you think he's cute?_ Bradley laughed at herself before she realized that it wasn't really her voice in her head that she was hearing. The look on Edward's face was clearly expressing that sentiment and she cursed herself for being so obvious.

"I think it's just easier to say what's on your mind anyway," Bradley said, trying to keep her cool.

"Someone's just going to find out anyway," Emmett replied, glaring at Edward.

"Exactly," Bradley agreed.

Edward just rolled his eyes. "What are you doing out here alone in the woods anyway?"

"Running," Bradley answered obviously. "I like coming out before all the people are on the paths. It's more peaceful. Until I ran into you two," she teased. "Besides it's safer without having to dodge hikers and small children with their dogs."

Emmett laughed again and Bradley grinned up at him.

_Would you still think it's safer if you knew you were talking to a couple of vampires?_ Edward asked.

She turned to him and said, "What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

"What did you mean 'vampires'?" Both Edward and Emmett froze when she said the word "vampires." "What?" she asked, not understanding their reaction.

"What did you say?" Emmett asked.

"I didn't say it, he did," Bradley replied, pointing at Edward.

"No, I didn't," Edward shot back.

"No, he didn't," Emmett agreed.

"Yeah he did. He said, and I quote, 'would you still think it's safer if you knew you were talking to a couple of vampires?'"

"No, I didn't."

"No, he didn't."

"You two are beginning to sound like a broken record. And, yes, you did. So what did you mean?"

Edward looked at Emmett. "That's what I was thinking," he said. "I don't understand."

Emmett's eyes widened and he began laughing. Edward scowled and turned back to Bradley. "Could you come with us?" he asked. To Emmett he simply said, "Carlisle."

She figured she probably shouldn't go with the boys claiming to be vampires but they seemed harmless enough. Edward had a few inches on her but she was fairly certain a quick punch to his nose or a kick to the groin would bring him down if the need should arise. Emmett she knew she couldn't take but figured she could out run. Anyone that big couldn't be too fast. She swore she saw Edward roll his eyes and mutter _If only she knew _as she sized them up but she couldn't be sure.

Bradley sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She followed the two boys down the path.


	3. Chapter 3

_Wow! People looked at my story! Thanks Aoi Nami-chan for your review :)_

**Chapter 2**

The trio walked silently for a few minutes but, not being one for silences, Bradley spoke up. "So...you guys in school?" After the strange interaction she figured small talk was best. Edward was still clearly uneasy but Emmett seemed to have gotten over it.

"Yep. I'll be a senior in the fall and Edward will be a junior," Emmett answered. "And then off to college!" he added with obviously fake enthusiasm.

"Huh?" was Bradley's witty reply.

Emmett glance at her, confused. "What part didn't you get?"

Edward sighed. _Great. This is so not good._

"I just assumed you guys were older. I mean, when I met Edward a few years ago I swore he was already in high school or college. Not my age," Bradley explained. "I'll be a junior also."

Emmett threw a quick glance at Edward who was staring straight ahead. Bradley saw him shake his head but just barely. Emmett turned his gaze forward also. The conversation was clearly over.

"OK. So small talk finished..." Bradley muttered.

_Seriously. Everything that comes into her mind._

"You aren't much better you know!" Bradley snapped.

Emmett's eyes shot between the Edward and Bradley looking like he had no clue what had just occurred. Bradley was about to forget the whole interaction and head back to her family when they reached a campsite.

"Emmett! Edward! You brought company!" an attractive young woman exclaimed. Bradley guessed her to be in her mid twenties or so. She had shoulder length brown hair and the same gold eyes as the two boys. Bradley also noticed she had the same pale skin as Edward. And now that she thought about it, so did Emmett. She hadn't really noticed it before since she had been stuck on his good looks.

"Esme, this is Bradley," Edward introduced their guest. "Is Carlisle here?"

"Hello, Bradley. Welcome! Please, have a seat. Would you like something to eat or drink?"

As if on cue, Bradley's stomach growled at Esme's offer. Blushing Bradley replied, "Some water would be great." She wished she had eaten an apple or something before her run so that her stomach wouldn't have betrayed her.

Esme turned to a cooler and pulled out a bottle of water as Edward reached into a bag and pulled out an apple. He tossed it to her and said _I have to find Carlisle_ as he turned away.

"Who's Carlisle?" Bradley asked. Edward again gave her a strange look.

"Is someone looking for me?" A beautiful man, probably the same age or so as Esme, wandered over to the group. He had the same pale skin and gold eyes as the others but his hair was lighter. His hair was almost the same color as his eyes. He smiled kindly at Bradley. "Hi. I'm Carlisle."

"Bradley," she replied, smiling back. It was almost impossible not to feel comfortable around this man. He just oozed kindness.

"Welcome to our makeshift home. I see you've already met my wife and two of my sons," Carlisle greeted her.

Bradley's brow crinkled. She could grasp the wife part but there was no way that this man had fathered either of these two boys. She'd have been shocked if he was more than 10 years older than they were. And she wouldn't have even given him that many years on them.

"We are all adopted," Edward explained.

"All?" Bradley asked. Again, as if on cue, three more people wandered into the campsite.

"These are our other children, Alice, Jasper and Rosalie," Esme introduced the newcomers.

_Again with the pale skin and gold eyes_, Bradley thought but she smiled at them. _And, seriously, can these people be any more attractive_? These three seemed to be about the same age as Edward and Emmett. The boy, Jasper, was almost as tall as Emmett but much thinner. He had short blond hair and a wary look on his face. The girls looked almost as opposite as you could get excluding the skin tone and eye color. One was tiny with short dark hair arranged in cute little spikes all over her head and the other was taller (although not quite as tall as Bradley) with gorgeous blond hair that hung most of the way down her back. The short one had an almost excited expression on her face and the blond just looked annoyed. Bradley wasn't sure which one was Alice and which was Rosalie though.

"Alice," Edward answered her unspoken thought, pointing at the short one, "and Rosalie." He pointed at the blond.

"Nice to meet everyone," Bradley hoped that wasn't a lie. She really loved new people but she was still a little wary of this whole "vampire" nonsense.

"Carlisle, we may have a, uh, problem," Edward started glancing at Bradley.

"Oh?" Carlisle questioned also glancing at Bradley.

"Yeah. Edward thinks he's a vampire," Bradley explained. Once again, she wished she had kept her big mouth shut. The reaction was intense. Someone hissed (Bradley was pretty sure it was the blond girl, Rosalie), Jasper jumped and the others froze in place. Emmett was the only one who seemed relatively unaffected.

"Oh it is so much better than that!" Emmett said as he began chuckling to himself.

"Emmett! This is not funny!" Rosalie shot Emmett a death glare.

"Trust me. It sort of is," Emmett answered.

"Maybe you'd better start from the beginning," Carlisle suggested.

Bradley and Edward looked at each other and motioned for the other to begin. "Please, ladies first," Edward insisted.

Bradley sighed. "I ran into Edward and Emmett on the path while I was running this morning. We introduced ourselves...well, Edward and I actually met a few years ago at a different campground but I think that's irrelevant here...Edward asked me why I was running alone in the woods and I said that it was safer without trying to dodge the crowds later in the day. He then asked if I would still think it was safer if I knew I was talking to a couple of vampires." The reaction to the v-word was a little less stressful but Bradley could still sense the unease.

She looked at Edward for his approval of her account. "I never said that."

Bradley sighed in frustration. "Yes you did!"

"No he didn't," Emmett defended his brother, still laughing to himself.

Bradley was about to protest again when Edward said, "I never said that..._out loud_."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

"Oh. OH!" Carlisle exclaimed as the meaning of Edward's words took hold. Bradley glanced around and noticed that almost every pair of gold eyes was staring at her wide and with a mix of shock and confusion. Once again, only Emmett seemed unaffected.

"Sweet justice!" Emmett chuckled. Edward glared at him and Rosalie took a swipe.

"Ok...well I'm feeling a little awkward right now. I'm trying to decide if I want to know the answers to the millions of questions in my head or if I just want to pretend this morning never happened and avoid you all for the rest of the week." Bradley's frustration was getting the best of her.

_Probably best to forget and avoid_, Edward said. She scowled at him. _But I don't think that's going to happen_, he added glancing wistfully at Carlisle.

Just then it dawned on Bradley that Edward had not moved his mouth when he spoke to her. "How did you that?" she demanded

"Do what?" Edward asked back but she got the distinct impression he knew exactly what she was talking about, he was just going to make her say it.

"You didn't move your mouth when you spoke to me. And I don't mean like a ventriloquist 'didn't move your mouth'. Your mouth was closed." Bradley knew that she should probably be a little more freaked out. As it was, she was just curious.

Edward didn't answer her question and, instead, just looked back at Carlisle. "See? Problem."

Carlisle, for his part, did seem to ponder the options Bradley had presented but he seemed too curious to choose the "forget and avoid" option. "Bradley," he began. "I'm not sure I can explain everything you'd like. But I'm willing to try. I need you to promise me something though."

Again, Bradley knew she should be freaked out by the attractive man asking her for promises but his eyes were so kind. She couldn't bring herself to be leery of him. "Ok..." she agreed hesitantly.

"What I tell you may seem strange but I will not lie to you. And it would be in everyone's interest if what I tell you stays within this group. It would be best not to tell anyone else."

_Isn't that what a pedophile says before he takes advantage of a child_? Bradley thought sarcastically and almost said it out loud. She bit her tongue and was very proud of herself for holding it in. Edward looked mildly amused as she instead said, "Ok. I'd like to hear what you've got for explanations."

Carlisle pondered for a moment before beginning. "Edward wasn't lying when he said that he and Emmett were vampires." He paused for a moment for her reaction. Edward seemed about to protest again, no doubt about his saying no such thing, but Carlisle held up his hand to stop him. Bradley kept a straight face so he continued, "We all are." He motioned to the members of his family who were starting to deal with the events of their morning in their own ways.

Bradley looked around at each one. Carlisle and Edward sat with her on logs that had been arranged around the campfire pit. They were both watching her carefully. Esme had started puttering around in the kitchen area. It looked to Bradley like she was getting breakfast together. Alice was sitting very still at the picnic table staring off at nothing with a pensive look on her face. Occasionally she would catch Edward's eye. Jasper was standing off on the edge of the site looking nervous and uncomfortable. He kept looking anxiously between the three sitting by the fire pit and Alice. Rosalie had stormed off into the woods and Emmett, still the only one not upset by everything, watched her stalk off. He shrugged and settled down on the ground to watch what was about to transpire.

_He looks like he's hoping for some entertainment_, Bradley thought about Emmett.

_Pretty much_, Edward answered, again not moving his mouth.

Bradley narrowed her eyes at him but let his ventriloquist act go for the moment. She turned back to Carlisle, "What do you mean by vampires exactly? Like the honest to goodness bite your neck and suck your blood type?" She was done holding back. She wanted answers.

Emmett chuckled. "Glad your getting your money's worth," Bradley muttered under her breath but she never took her eyes off Carlisle.

Carlisle smiled patiently. "Not exactly. There are some of our kind that do thrive on human blood. My family chooses another lifestyle. We sustain ourselves on the blood of animals."

"How's that working out for you?" Bradley asked, her voice tinged with more than a little sarcasm. She wasn't really buying this whole vampire nonsense. She just couldn't figure out why an adult, especially one that seemed to have it all together like Carlisle, would play along with this stupid joke.

Carlisle laughed lightly. "It works out well for us but it isn't always an easy choice. The blood of humans is still tempting and we must daily affirm our choice to not take a human life."

"Well, as a human, I thank you."

Emmett and Carlisle both openly laughed at that. Esme chose that moment to walk over holding a plate of food. She looked cautious, as if she thought Bradley might turn and run screaming from her. "Would you like some breakfast?" she asked timidly.

Bradley's stomach grumbled again as she caught a whiff of the pancakes and eggs on the plate. _Stupid stomach_, she thought. There was no way she could deny her hunger after the betraying growl so she accepted the plate. "Thanks," she smiled. She didn't like the idea of this woman being concerned about her reaction. Sure, the vampire thing was weird but she wasn't scared of these people.

_Maybe you should be scared of us._ Edward the ventriloquist struck again.

"Why should I be scared?" Bradley demanded as she took a bite of the food on her plate. The pancakes were glorious and she quickly threw another bite in her mouth.

"See?" Edward demanded again of Carlisle.

"Interesting," Carlisle pondered.

"What's really interesting is your ventriloquist son," Bradley said around another mouthful of food.

Emmett boomed with laughter this time. Bradley jumped a little and looked at him. He was holding his sides and absolutely rocking with laughter. She couldn't help but giggle at this huge guy all but rolling on the ground.

Carlisle tried to suppress his smile but it didn't really work. Bradley wasn't sure if he was smiling at Emmett's antics or at Edward's expense.

_Both_, Edward said bitterly.

Bradley just glared at him. She'd had enough of his nonsense and this speaking without opening his mouth thing was starting to grate on her nerves.

"Edward is not a ventriloquist," Carlisle explained. "He can, however, read minds."

"Oh, really?" Bradley decided to just continue to play along for the time being.

"Yes. Some vampires have extra...talents I guess you could call them. Edward's is to read minds."

"I see." She really liked this Carlisle fellow. It was too bad he was totally insane.

"Totally insane is he?" Edward asked.

Bradley narrowed her eyes. She had definitely not said that out loud. But she also knew her expressions gave her away.

"Your face does give away a lot but Carlisle isn't lying to you," Edward again answered her unspoken thought.

Bradley's eyes widened. "What the-?"

The so called vampire family froze again. They watched her anxiously. Even Emmett seemed concerned this time.

"How do you do it?" Bradley asked Edward. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief as they realized she wasn't going to faint or flee. In fact, Bradley was simply curious. Even if she had wanted to run at this point, she couldn't. She had to get some answers.

Edward shrugged in response. "I don't know. I just can. And apparently so can you."

"What?" Bradley wasn't sure where this was going.

"I really didn't say anything out loud about vampires. And I'm not a ventriloquist. You have been reading my thoughts."

"YES!" Emmett cried out as Edward finally said the words out loud. Edward glared at Emmett but Bradley couldn't help but smile. There was such glee on Emmett's face that it was hard not to laugh.

"I don't know about reading your thoughts, Edward. I think your face just gives away too much also," Bradley disagreed.

_Really_? he asked. He arranged his features like a statue with no expression. _So you can't hear anything right now_?

"Whoa..." Bradley said for the second time that morning. She looked at Carlisle who was watching the interaction like a science geek waiting for his experiment to finish. "I can see that Carlisle is excited to see how this is going to play out but I'm not hearing his voice in my head."

"Fascinating!" Carlisle really looked like he meant it. "You don't hear anything from anyone else?"

Bradley concentrated and looked at each of the remaining vampires- the new development of mind reading had led her to decide that maybe they were telling the truth about the whole vampire thing. She got nothing from Esme, Emmett, Alice or Jasper. Rosalie still hadn't reappeared. She turned back to Carlisle and shook her head.

"OH! That is the greatest thing I have heard in 60 years!" Emmett was rolling again. "There is justice in the universe!"

Bradley giggled again and rolled her eyes at the 60 years comment. No way this guy was over 20 let alone three times that. Then again, she had just learned that vampires were real so who knew what else was true.

_Don't try to take it in all at once_, Edward's voice in her head said.

_This is some crazy stuff. I don't know how I feel about all of this_, she answered nervously in her thoughts. She wasn't used to being caught off guard. She took most things in stride but this was a little much.

Edward smiled. _Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about it either_.

The others were staring at the two of them knowing that they were missing out on some private conversation.

"Wait! What are you guys talking about?" Emmett complained. Edward just smirked at his brother in response. "Aw C'MON! Leave it to Edward to ruin even this for me!" Edward and Bradley both laughed as Emmett stomped off in frustration.


	5. Chapter 5

_Um, can I just say, I love Emmett :)_

**Chapter 4**

It took Bradley a while to find her way back to her family's site. Part of the problem was she had a terrible sense of direction but the bigger part was that she was totally distracted. A lot had happened in the past few hours and her world view was forever changed.

She had asked a lot of questions and learned a lot about the vampire family, the Cullens. She knew that Carlisle was the first to have been turned when he was attacked some 400 years ago and that it was he that discovered they could survive on animal blood and preserve human life. Carlisle had then turned Edward, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett over the last 90 years or so as they had each hovered near death. He would not take a human life needlessly but since they were dying anyway, he sort of saved them. Alice and Jasper had found the Cullens on their own and had decided to take up their alternative lifestyle.

Each of the Cullens had a distinct personality, much like any other family. Bradley was still getting to know each of them and really looked forward to spending more time with them. She still had a ton of questions but didn't want to wear them out on the first day. It was with that in mind that she had excused herself and started her walk back to her family.

"You are in trouble," a voice warned her, pulling her out of her mental stupor. Bradley turned to see her brother, Tucker, just off the path and halfway up a tree. He looked at her with mock fear in his eyes.

"Huh? What did I do?" Bradley asked.

"You've been gone a really long time," Tucker answered. He sounded a little hurt. This made Bradley feel bad. She and Tucker usually spent the first day or so of family camping trips together, exploring and checking things out. Even though Bradley was doing her best to mold Tucker in her own ways, he got nervous in new places and around new people. He was quiet and shy until he was comfortable and then his sense of humor kicked in. Bradley loved her brother and was fiercely protective of him. She always made sure he was settled and made some friends with the other kids that camped near their family before setting off to see who she could find in her own age range. The pang of guilt she felt for abandoning her brother sat heavily in her stomach.

"Has it been that long?" Bradley looked around for signs of the time. She never wore a watch on camping trips and the cover of the trees was too thick to see exactly where the sun was in the sky.

"We had lunch like an hour ago. Mom is kind of freaking out."

"Great," Bradley muttered, motioning for her brother to come with her. "You're going to be my shield. Try to look cute so you can distract her."

Tucker laughed and jumped out of the tree to walk with his big sister. He would do just about anything for her. She was the coolest person in the world to him.

To anyone walking by it was obvious these two were siblings. They had the same green eyes and roundish faces with a sprinkling of freckles. They both had red hair but Bradley's was darker, almost brown if the one looking wasn't one for details, while Tucker's was a few shades lighter and more obviously red. They had the same grin and knew that together they could convince their parents of almost anything. They worked well together and, despite the age difference, got along extremely well. Of course there was the occasional spat but it was usually short lived and quickly forgotten.

"Hey, Mom," Bradley called casually as she and Tucker wandered into the campsite.

Her mother whirled around, her face a mix of relief that her daughter was ok and frustration with her daughter's thoughtlessness. "Where have you been?"

Bradley shrugged. "I made some new friends," she replied as if the answer were obvious. With her, it kind of was.

"Of course you did," her mother answered trying to stay annoyed now that she knew everything was fine but amusement was winning out. "Could you maybe let us know that you're alive next time?"

"Sorry, Mom," Bradley grinned.

"Are you hungry?" her Mom began pulling out the leftovers from the lunch the rest of them had earlier.

Bradley was a little hungry even though she had eaten all of the pancakes and eggs that Esme had given her earlier. Apparently, though, that was hours earlier. "Yep!" she answered.

Her mother made her a sandwich as Tucker told her about their morning. There wasn't much for him to tell since her parents were getting the camp settled and she wasn't around to explore with him. Bradley felt the pang of guilt again and began planning the afternoon activities with her brother. Her mother asked a few questions about her new friends and Bradley answered them as honestly and vaguely as she could. Her mother could tell that something was up but it wasn't like her daughter to hide things from her. Before her mother could press too deeply, Bradley grabbed Tucker and headed out to see what they could find.

The rest of that week passed in a blur. Bradley spent most of her waking hours with the Cullens after she found a family with twin 12 year old boys and another family with an 11 year old girl that Tucker could hang out with. Time seemed to lose its meaning when she was with the Cullens. She guessed that it made sense since they didn't have to worry about time. Immortality has its perks. More than once she realized that the sun was setting before remembering that she had to find her way back to her family's site.

The first time it happened Edward offered himself and Emmett to walk her home. Bradley was certain that he heard the panic in her head as the darkness crept in but he never acknowledged it. _Thanks_, she thought to him but he just shrugged.

When they got to her family's campsite, Bradley introduced Edward and Emmett to her family. Her brother's eyes got wide taking in Emmett's size and her father's narrowed at, what Bradley assumed, was the same thing. Whether or not Emmett noticed Bradley wasn't sure because he never lost his easy going demeanor. Edward on the other hand was thoroughly amused.

_Your father doesn't trust Emmett any further than he can throw him_, Edward mused silently. Bradley knew he was using her father's own words...that was one of his favorite sayings.

Bradley rolled her eyes and walked over to her father's side to wrap her arms around his waist. She knew he was just being protective of his little girl and she knew how to play her cards.

_Well done_, Edward complimented as Bradley felt her father relax. _Your mother knows you well. She figures Emmett is the reason you hang out with us so much and that you find him dreamy_. Again, using words she knew were not his own.

Bradley's eyes got wide and she felt her face blush. She thanked God that it was dark and that probably only Edward knew why she was blushing anyway. She was over her initial attraction to Emmett. She and Emmett had settled into a friendly banter full of teasing and nettling each other. It was fun and comfortable and almost sibling-like. Besides, Emmett, she learned quickly, was with Rosalie.

Edward chuckled in her head and she threw him a glare. She realized as all of this was going on her mother had been chatting away with Emmett and Edward. Bradley marveled at Edward's ability to multi-task. She hadn't heard a word that had been spoken, what with Edward in her head and all, but he had managed to carry on two conversations at once.

_All part of the package_, Edward said smugly in her head.

_Jerk_, she retorted.

Edward laughed lightly but Bradley wasn't sure if it was at her or something her mother said.

"I hope she isn't being too much of a nuisance. Feel free to send her home at any time." Bradley heard that! What was she, six?

"Mom!" Bradley cried. "Sheesh!"

Emmett laughed his big booming laugh. "She's not so bad," he teased. "Eats like a horse though."

He winked at Bradley as he made that comment. It had been a source of much entertainment for him over the previous few days. It had taken Bradley a few of Esme's delicious meals for her to realize that she was the only one eating them. When she asked about it she got a smug reply from Emmett. "We don't eat people food."

"What do you mean you 'don't eat people food'" she asked mimicking his tone.

"We're vampires," he reminded her. "We are all blood, all the time." Emmett had made it his mission to try to shock Bradley. After the initial shock of vampires and mind reading had worn off, it wasn't an easy task. And this didn't phase her either.

"So you don't eat _any_ regular food?" He shook his head. "So just animal blood?"

He nodded, getting an evil glint in his eye. "Unless we slip up," he wagged his eyebrows suggestively at her.

She rolled her eyes still not phased and pretty used to Emmett's off color humor at this point. "So how often do you have to go find some poor critter? I haven't seen you eat yet and you're a big dude."

He laughed. "We hunt every couple of weeks or so."

"Huh. That isn't that often. So, what do you do? Strap on your rifle or crossbow or something and wander off into the woods?"

This time he laughed his big laugh that Bradley had grown accustomed to and rather enjoyed hearing. "We don't use people weapons to hunt with," he said with the same smug tone he had used about "people food."

"What do you use then?" Bradley demanded. _He always has to drag everything out. Why can't he just answer a question completely_? she thought irritably.

With the evil glint returning to his eyes, Emmett grinned at her making sure she got a good look at all of his teeth. Bradley furrowed her brow for a second when he didn't verbally respond but as she caught on to his meaning her eyes went wide.

"Wait-what-do you-you mean..." she sputtered. Emmett threw his head back and laughed. He was quite proud of himself for finally shocking her.

Annoyed that he was getting so much pleasure out of this, Bradley took a deep breath to settle her thoughts and racing heart. "So what do you hunt then? Small animals like squirrels or something?" She tried to imagine Emmett gnawing on a squirrel and sort of giggled but she couldn't fathom what other type of animal a person could catch with their hands and bite into without hurting themself.

Emmett looked offended and Edward, who had been sitting nearby, scoffed at both the sentiment and the picture in Bradley's head. "We usually aim a little higher up the food chain, Brad," Edward explained.

"How high?"

"Emmett is a pretty big fan of grizzlies. I like mountain lion myself," Edward was better than Emmett at keeping the smugness out of his voice, but only barely. Emmett didn't even try to conceal his superior look.

It started to dawn on Bradley just how incredible these supernatural beings were. She had seen some of it in action: the fluidity of their motions (Alice practically danced when she walked), their speed (although she was pretty sure she didn't know the half of that one), the fact that time had no bearing on their existence (Carlisle was over 400 years old and looked about 23). Apparently they were incredibly strong as well.

_You're getting there_, Edward teased in her head.

_How strong ARE you_? Bradley had taken to asking questions she knew Emmett would enjoy too much in her head so that only Edward would hear them.

_Strong enough so that a quick punch to the nose or a kick to the groin would not take me down_, he answered, reminding her of her thoughts that first day on the path. _And you definitely can not out run Emmett_.

Bradley sighed. Emmett, who knew that he was once again being left out of a conversation, grumbled about Edward always ruining his fun.

Bradley got back to the task at hand which was her mother embarrassing her in front of her new friends. "Ok. Thanks guys for walking back with me and keeping the bears at bay," she added for Emmett's benefit. "I'll see you later," she dismissed them with that tone that told them she had heard enough out of them for one night.

The boys laughed and wished her family a good night before disappearing into the darkness. "They seem nice. I understand why you spend so much time over there," her mother mused. "That Emmett is cute..." her mother suggested. Her father snorted.

"He has a girlfriend, Mom," Bradley said as she hugged her father again. He put his arm around her shoulders and steered her to the dinner table. Bradley's father had always been what she considered her "safe person". Whenever she was scared he was always the one she went to for comfort. She would cuddle herself as close as possible into his side and let the fears drop away. She had always thought that he was on par with Superman and that nothing could ever get past him to harm her. After this week she was starting to realize just how fragile he was. How fragile they all were.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

At the end of the week, Bradley started to feel a little depressed. She had never had a difficult time saying goodbye to her summer friends before. Summer friendships were not meant to be long-lasting or life-altering. The Cullens had thrown her for a loop and changed all that. She didn't want this to end. She didn't know how she could go back to "life as usual" after this.

Two days before the end, she broached this subject with Edward. _Where does this go from here_? she asked knowing that he would understand what she meant.

He looked at her and then glanced at Carlisle who was sitting nearby. Bradley had noticed that she was never alone with any one Cullen. She got the impression that it was not only for her own safety but also theirs. It would not be good for her lifeless body to be discovered when her family knew where she had been spending all of her time. Or for her body not to be discovered at all.

Carlisle could tell that Edward wanted his help with something so he came and sat with them. He looked from his son to Bradley and could see the anguish in her eyes. "Is something bothering you, Bradley?"

Bradley knew that Carlisle would not laugh at her so she let herself be vulnerable. "I was wondering where this goes from here," she repeated. "I mean, I can't forget you exist so unless you've got some vampire trick up your sleeve, I can't go back to the status quo. Are we friends after this week? Or is this it?"

Carlisle sighed. Edward's eyes dropped to the ground. They had discovered over the week that Bradley heard his thoughts best when he was "speaking" directly to her or when he was actively listening to hers. She could catch glimmers of his thoughts when he wasn't concentrating on anyone specifically and she caught almost nothing if he was concentrating on someone else. She could tell right now that he was purposefully trying to keep her out of his thoughts but she got the tone.

"Oh." She fought the tears that were building up behind her eyes. She tried to tell herself that it was fine. That this was no different than any other summer.

"Bradley, we have to maintain a low profile if we want any sort of normalcy," Carlisle began gently. "You are the only human we've ever let into our secret and we don't regret that." Bradley caught the glare that Edward threw at Rosalie across the campsite and knew that Carlisle's statement didn't apply across the board. "But it would be best if you tried to move on from this week like it was any other family vacation week."

"I understand," she whispered. And she did. They had a right to as normal an existence as they could have. They had built a life for themselves somewhere (they hadn't said where they lived and Bradley knew now that was intentional), Carlisle had a job as a doctor and the kids went to school. Esme kept her house and played the role of doting mother, although Bradley knew that wasn't an act. Esme loved her children and they truly were a good family...much like her own, in fact.

Having Bradley around was a liability.

_It's not that_, Edward countered. Bradley could hear the pain in his voice and wanted to believe it was because he and his family would miss her too. _We WILL miss you. You are the only friend we've ever had outside of the family. But we can't afford human friends. You're too breakable. We couldn't live with ourselves if something happened to you_.

Bradley sensed it wasn't just that there was a fear of one of them harming her physically. She understood that he was also referencing her mortality. She was going to get old and die someday while they were stuck in time. For a second she thought about becoming a vampire herself but almost as quickly as the thought came, she dismissed it. She would never do that to her family. If she had to choose between her friends and her family, she would choose her family every time. No matter how incredible the friends were.

Edward nodded at her train of thought. _I thought as much_.

"Should I leave?" Bradley asked Carlisle, wiping the tears that had spilled from her eyes.

Carlisle smiled at her. "Only if it would be easier for you. We love your company and will enjoy it to the fullest for the time we have left."

Bradley smiled weakly and nodded. She had a choice to make. She could go back to her family and mope and make them miserable for the next two days or she could suck it up and make the most of her situation. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and said, "All right, Edward. You owe me a card game."

Edward laughed. Emmett had been trying to orchestrate this since day one. He claimed that Edward was a cheater and looked at everyone's cards in his mind but Bradley could counter that by seeing his too.

"YES!" Emmett exclaimed. Bradley jumped. She hadn't seen Emmett come back from wherever he had been. They moved so quietly! "You are going down, mindreader!"

Carlisle laughed and seemed pleased with Bradley's choice. He stood up and walked to his wife, giving her a kiss. Bradley noticed that Esme seemed a little sad.

_She's going to miss you_, Edward told her. _She had sort of adopted you in her head. I think she thought maybe you and I would hook up_. He laughed at this and so did Bradley. There hadn't been any of those feelings for either of them. Being able to read each other's minds had connected them in very deep ways but not romantically. Bradley knew that Edward was the only one without a partner in the family and that Esme wanted her son to be happy. Esme and Carlisle had each other, Rosalie and Emmett, and Alice and Jasper. _She doesn't know that you prefer Emmett_, he teased.

"Jackass," Bradley muttered under her breath. Her comment drew snickers from the rest of the Cullens who could hear her quiet comment with their super hearing.

"She's definitely right about that," Rosalie agreed. Bradley was shocked. Rosalie had pretty much avoided her the whole week. Bradley definitely got the impression that she had not approved of letting the human in on the family secret. But as their time together was winding down and Bradley seemed to accept the fact that this was the end of their road together, Rosalie let down her guard.

"What are we going to play?" Bradley asked as she and Edward walked over to the picnic table where everyone else was convening. In the end they decided on Go Fish because Bradley didn't know how to play poker and Emmett couldn't help her without "the cheater cheating."

Everyone was laughing as the game progressed. Whenever Edward would take a peek at Bradley's cards she would announce his to the rest of the group. He tried to just take quick peeks but Bradley was quick enough to see his too. The game ended with no winner but everyone in a good mood. Bradley had noticed that even Jasper, who had always been polite and friendly enough but was never in close proximity to her, was sitting in the midst of the family enjoying himself.

Once again, Bradley had waited too long to walk back before the darkness took over the woods surrounding the camp. This time Alice walked with her and Edward. She knew Edward asked Alice along for her father's sake who still didn't like the look "of that big guy."

Before they left to walk Bradley back, Esme asked Bradley to invite her family to the Cullen's site for dinner the next night.

"But Esme, you don't eat dinner," Bradley reminded her. She had done so well not voicing every thought this week since Edward could hear them anyway.

The family laughed as Bradley blushed. "We'd still love to have them over," Esme smiled.

Bradley agreed and she set out with Edward and Alice. Alice was definitely the right pick. She had Bradley's father eating out of her hand in seconds. She was so cute and charming it was impossible not to love her.

_If only you knew her better_, Edward thought sarcastically and Bradley stifled a giggle.

"Well, we should head back so our parents don't worry," Alice said sadly after a little while of small talk.

Bradley had to turn her snort into a cough. _She's good_, she thought.

Edward just rolled his eyes and smirked.

"So we'll see you tomorrow night?" Alice smiled sweetly at Bradley's parents.

"You bet!" her father agreed quickly.

"Great!" Alice sounded genuinely excited. "See you tomorrow night then! And see you earlier, I'm sure," she added giving Bradley a wink and leaned in to hug her.

Bradley started a bit as Alice leaned in. Other than her handshake with Emmett that first day, this was the only physical contact she'd had with any of the vampires. Alice's embrace was cold and hard but oddly comforting. She noticed Edward freeze up a little at the hug too and knew that he was once again blocking her out of his head.

The next day, the last day, ended entirely too quickly. Bradley had gone to help prepare for the get together. The Cullens were nothing if not meticulous. Everything was perfectly normal when her parents and Tucker arrived. There was an amazing spread of food prepared (enough for all 11 of them and then some, even though only 4 would be eating), Carlisle and Esme chatted amicably with Bradley's parents and the "kids" were all kind and included Tucker into the various games and hijinks. Emmett even had Tucker help him pull jokes on Bradley and Rosalie although Edward gave Bradley a warning before hand.

Bradley could feel the lump rising in her throat as the night was winding down. This was it. She was going to have to say goodbye and go back to normal life. She wasn't even sure what that would mean. She had the rest of July and August ahead of her before school came around as a distraction. She had no idea what she would do with that kind of free time.

As her parents shook hands with Carlisle and Esme and Tucker was trying to jump high enough to give Emmett a high five, Bradley started to panic.

_It's ok, Brad_, Edward tried to comfort her. He gave Jasper a look but blocked Bradley from his thoughts.

Bradley couldn't explain it but she did feel better. She knew that the Cullens had to go back to their lives and she had to go back to hers. It _was_ going to be ok and everything would go back to the way it should be.

It wasn't until she was back in her tent that the floodgates opened and she mourned her lost friendships. She cried herself to sleep knowing that she would never see her supernatural friends again.


	7. Chapter 7

_So this is definitely a filler chapter. I have to get Bradley from point A to B and this is what I came up with. Let me know what you think!_

**Chapter 6**

"You don't even like the cold, Bradley!" her mother cried. She was grasping at straws and Bradley knew she had this fight in the bag.

"I'm trying to get in touch with my Canadian and New England roots," Bradley said in a fake voice of wisdom.

Her mother rolled her eyes and her father chuckled. "It could be good for her. It's like a trial run for college." Bradley's father was always easier to convince of things than her mother.

"College is still a year and half away! It is too early to practice!" her mother disagreed.

"But, Mom, if I practiced next year then I would go straight from practice to college and I wouldn't be able to spend my last days before college here with you." Bradley knew her sentence barely made sense but ending with the tug on the heartstrings was the key. She put on her best pout and looked at her mom from under her eyelashes.

"That is not fair," her mother said in defeat.

Bradley grinned. "So I can do it?"

Bradley's mother sighed and her father laughed again. "You can do it," he said.

Bradley threw her arms around her parents' necks. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She ran from the living room where their conversation had taken place and up to her computer in her bedroom.

As much as Bradley thought she would never get back to normal after her summer encounter with the supernatural, she did manage to settle back into her life. It helped that she had been pretty busy since returning from camping in mid July.

She had gotten an unexpected phone call the day after they returned from North Dakota. It was the US Women's Olympic volleyball coach and she wanted Bradley as a last minute replacement on her team. She had been on a list of "athletes to watch" but hadn't originally been selected to try out because of her age. She wasn't even 16 yet but thanks to the Olympic rule that said the athlete only had to turn 16 in the calendar year of the events, Bradley just made the cut. Due to some injuries and other unexpected turns of events the team had an opening. Bradley figured the team must be pretty desperate to be calling her but she was thrilled nonetheless.

So she and her mother made a trip to Beijing for most of August. Bradley had also gone to spend some time practicing with the team stateside before that. She didn't expect to get much playing time but the coach was thrilled with her serve and hustle. She actually got to play quite a bit and helped her team come home with a silver medal.

As soon as she got back from China, it was time to start practicing with her high school team. She had actually missed the first couple of days of summer practice but her coach could hardly be upset.

Then school started and volleyball season was in full swing. Her life revolved around classes, practice, homework and games. She threw herself into everything with gusto, partially because that's how she did things and partially because she wanted to distract herself.

But once volleyball season ended in early December (her team actually won the state tournament!) she had more time to think. It had almost been easy to let herself forget everything that had happened over the summer when her life was busy. But classes and homework alone weren't enough to keep her distracted. Her travel volleyball team didn't start up until the end of January and Bradley couldn't face the upcoming weeks with her memories flooding in on her.

She began looking for other distractions. Bradley was not a partier so alcohol and drugs were not an option to help block out the memories. For all her popularity at school, she didn't really have that close friend that she could completely confide in. And even if she had, what would she have said that wouldn't have her friend calling "them" in to drag her away to a padded cell?

Her sixteenth birthday had passed so the first thing she did was get her driver's license. Though that wasn't much of a distraction in and of itself, it did give her a little freedom. She tried wandering the beaches and watching the winter surfers. She briefly considered joining the winter surfers but even the southern California waters were too cold for her in December. Surfing was a summer activity in her book. The beach brought some comfort, as it usually did, but it wasn't a distraction like she was hoping. It actually just gave her a quiet place to remember more.

She tried volunteering but after calling half a dozen nursing homes, soup kitchens and youth centers gave up because they all turned her down. _Who turns down volunteers_? she thought angrily. They told her it was because she couldn't make a long term time commitment with her next volleyball season starting in a few weeks.

She tried doing something totally out of character and pierced her tongue. Her parents flipped out and worried about what was happening to their little girl. Bradley tried to remind them that she wasn't so little anymore and that she needed to express herself freely. She told them that she wasn't joining a gang or doing drugs, it was a simple hole that would heal when she chose to let it. Her wise words were totally unimpressive as she had to speak around a swollen and sore tongue.

Finally, right before Christmas break she found something that looked promising. She had been on her computer and looking at different college sites when something caught her eye. One of the colleges mentioned a student exchange program only instead of going abroad, this one was stateside. Interested, Bradley googled the program to learn more.

Apparently the program took applications from high school students ages 16 and older and tried to match them with another school based on their preferences. It was almost like a dating site and that thought made Bradley laugh to herself. Ideally, the school Bradley would be matched with would have a student that would fit what she was leaving and the two would simply switch places for a semester.

On a whim, Bradley filled out the application. She entered the information about her courses, grades and activities (the site had an explicit warning against lying since transcripts were required upon acceptance) and paused when she got to part about preferences. The truth was, she loved where she lived. Her school was fine, she didn't feel particularly attached to it other than her team but she certainly didn't dislike it. So what was she looking for?

_A change_, she thought with desperation. _ I have to change things up or I'm going to go insane._

She started clicking preferences. Everything she clicked was opposite of what she currently had. She lived in a fairly large community outside of Anaheim so she clicked "small town", she lived in the south so she clicked "north", she lived in the heat and sun so she clicked "cold" and "rain" and "snow". The weather clicks were the hardest for her but she steeled herself against the urge to unclick. The only preference she kept the same was "west coast" and that was for her mother's sake. As much as Bradley would have loved to try being an east coast girl for a semester, being in a different time zone would make communicating with her mother more difficult. Having to coordinate phone calls would not sit well.

Bradley had to tell one little lie on the application. She felt a little guilty as she clicked the "I have my parent/guardian's permission" button and sent the application in.

Bradley tried not to think about the application as she celebrated Christmas with her family. She and Tucker spent hours playing card games and Wii over the break and Bradley even began studying for her semester exams which were still a couple of weeks away. Finally, on New Year's Eve, the message she had been waiting for came.

She had been accepted! A school had accepted her application and even though they didn't have a student to exchange with her, they were still willing to take her in. The school was in a tiny little town in the Olympic Peninsula where it apparently rained almost everyday and occasionally snowed. Bradley couldn't have been more thrilled.

Now that she had finally told her parents and they had agreed, albeit reluctantly, Bradley let herself get excited. She printed out the consent forms and ran back downstairs before her parents could change their minds.

Bradley paced around the downstairs of the house as her parents slowly and carefully read every single word of the document. Finally, they signed the papers and handed them back to Bradley.

"I feel like I just signed away my first born," her mother groaned.

"You kind of did," Bradley and her father said at the same time. She definitely got her inability to filter from him.

Her mother shot them both a dirty look as Bradley signed her name with flourish on the line that said "student signature." She stuffed the forms into the envelope that she had already addressed and stamped and ran outside to put it in the mailbox.

_Forks, Washington, here I come_! she thought joyfully.


	8. Chapter 8

_Yay, Forks! _

**Chapter 7**

Her first day at Forks High School was not starting the way Bradley planned. She was supposed to get in Sunday evening. She was supposed to get in early enough to get a good night's sleep, get up, take a shower and try to look presentable without rushing around. She was supposed to have her room in the house where she was staying settled. She was not supposed to be showing up to school 4 hours late in the same clothes she was wearing the day before and her hair even messier than it usually was.

Saying goodbye to her family was hard enough, what with her mother sighing every time she walked in or out of a room from the time Bradley told them about Forks until she left, Tucker trying to hide his tears when she told him she was going away for a few months and her father just trying to pretend everything was normal and getting dirty looks from his wife for his efforts. That was bad but her seemingly simple journey to Washington was worse.

The farewell at the airport was tearful. Her mother openly sobbed and even her father got a little choked up although didn't actually cry. Bradley held it together pretty well, she had prepared herself for her mother's histrionics. She held it together until she went to hug Tucker goodbye. He looked up at her with the tears glistening in his eyes and said "I love you, Lee." Then she lost it. She and Tucker were very close but they weren't really a touchy feely sibling pair. While they never doubted the love of the other, they never actually said it. And the fact that he used his baby name for her put her over the edge.

But Bradley had managed to pull herself together, check in for her flight and give one last wave as she disappeared through security. Once she was alone, she stopped in the bathroom to wash her face and get her excitement back. She gave herself a pep talk about adventure and new people and new places.

Then it all went down hill. She and the other passengers heading to Seattle boarded the plane easily enough. Bradley got her iPod ready and settled in for the flight. She felt like she had been sitting for a long time but she was sure that she was just anxious to get going. Then she noticed that the other passengers were looking annoyed and starting to grumble. She looked at her watch and saw that it was almost an hour after the flight was supposed to have taken off. After about another 20 minutes the pilot came on the intercom and said something about cloud cover in Seattle and that the flight was delayed for a couple of hours.

The passengers got back off the plane and Bradley decided to go for a walk around the terminal. She grabbed a bite to eat at a bagel shop and wandered around the silly gift shops in LAX. When she figured it would be almost time to board again she headed back to the gate. The flight had been delayed another couple of hours.

All in all, the flight took off almost 10 hours after it was supposed to. Bradley took most things in stride but this was annoying. She tried to sleep on the plane but her legs were too long to get comfortable. Then every time she started to doze off the head of the man sleeping next to her kept falling over onto her headrest and jostling her awake.

She gave up trying to sleep and put her iPod back on but the battery died in less than 5 minutes. The 10 hour delay had taken its toll. Sighing, she took out her book but she couldn't concentrate. She was too tired and the words kept going out of focus.

The flight finally landed in Seattle and Bradley was relieved. Bradley was supposed to take a small plane to another city called Port Angeles but there wasn't another flight until late the next morning. Bradley had called the woman she would be staying with, Elaine Jacks, when her flight was delayed in LA and Elaine had agreed to pick her up in Seattle. That was before they knew the flight was delayed 10 hours. Still, Elaine was supposed to meet her at the baggage claim.

Bradley went to pick up her bags. Packing had been an adventure. She didn't really have many cold weather clothes so she and her mom had done a little shopping but she still didn't have much. As Bradley waited for the two suitcases that contained her belongings, she shivered and she cursed herself for not carrying on the winter jacket she had purchased. She had carried on her laptop and didn't want to be bothered with the bulky coat so she had packed it in a suitcase with the plan of pulling it out when she got to Seattle. She should have known that her bags wouldn't make it to Seattle.

By this time Elaine had found her and the two of them went to the lost bags counter. They gave a description of the bags and Elaine's address in Forks so the bags could be delivered. Bradley was grateful that Elaine was there because she was barely coherent at this point.

Elaine wasn't what Bradley had pictured. Before seeing her, Bradley only knew her name and that she lived alone. They had a couple of brief conversations before Bradley came to stay with her and she seemed nice enough. For no reason other than not knowing anyone under the age of 45 with the name Elaine, Bradley had pictured an older woman, older even than her mother. In actuality, Elaine was young and rather pretty. She had brown hair that she wore back in a ponytail and big blue eyes. She wasn't as tall as Bradley but had an athletic build and Bradley could tell she kept in shape.

They chatted a little on what should have been a 3 hour drive from Seattle to Forks. Bradley learned that Elaine was actually in her mid 20s and had grown up in Oregon. She went to the University of Washington and studied law enforcement. After graduation she had gotten a part time job in Forks as a police officer and another part time job in Port Angeles as a security officer at a bank. Elaine didn't really ask Bradley too many questions and Bradley wasn't sure if that was because Elaine wasn't much of a talker or if it was because she was taking pity on the obviously exhausted teenager.

Bradley glanced at the clock on the dashboard. There was no way she was going to get to school for the 7:30 start at this point but she still had hopes of only missing the beginning class or so. And then the snow started. The ridiculous white junk from the sky. Suddenly, traffic was crawling. Bradley was fairly certain that, at the pace they were moving, she could have walked faster to Forks.

Elaine smiled ruefully at Bradley. "Don't see much snow in California, I bet."

"No," Bradley agreed not even trying to hide her distaste.

Elaine laughed at her response. "Well, it isn't too bad. Driving is awful but that's mostly because other drivers don't know how to handle it. And clearly, don't have proper tires," she added as they drove by a car that was sitting in a ditch with slide marks in snow around it.

Bradley grimaced at the sight and was glad she wasn't the one driving. She had only had her license for 6 weeks or so at this point and hadn't even driven in the rain yet.

As they finally passed the "Welcome to Forks!" sign, the clock on the dash read 11:04. "What do you think?" Elaine asked. "Do you still want to try school or blow it off and start tomorrow?"

Bradley didn't think too hard about it. She wanted to get this ball rolling. "School," she answered definitively.

Elaine gave an appreciative nod and pulled into the parking lot. The school didn't really look much like a school but more like a group of matching small buildings. Bradley realized that the buildings must house the different classrooms. "Whose bright idea was it to build a school that you have to walk outside to get from class to class in a place where it snows and rains?" she grumbled, way too tired to worry about offending Elaine with her spoken thoughts.

Instead of being offended, Elaine laughed. "Good point. I had never really thought about it. The front office is there," Elaine pointed at the building with "Front Office" written on it. "Do you want me to go in with you?" she asked glancing at the clock.

Bradley was certain that Elaine was supposed to be at one of her jobs at this point. "No, thanks. I think I can handle it."

Elaine smiled and Bradley could see the relief. "Ok. I asked Kevin Lincoln who lives two doors down from me to give you a ride home. He'll find you," Elaine added with confidence. Bradley pondered that for a moment before remembering that she was the new kid at a school that only had about 350 students. In her old school, her junior class had about hundred more students than that and she had never really considered her school big. The schools in LA had graduating classes that were over 1000 students.

Elaine handed Bradley a key to her house and Bradley got out of the car. She whimpered a little at the cold and again cursed her decision to pack her jacket. She was only wearing jeans and a light zip up hoodie with a tank top underneath it. She had been fine leaving LA but now, with the snow falling around her, she was freezing. Bradley caught her reflection in a window as she walked up to the front office and gasped. She was a mess! She had never really been one to spend much time on her appearance but this was bad, even for her. She did her best to straighten out her rumpled clothes and quickly redid the knot she kept her hair in.

With a deep breath, Bradley opened the door to the office and walked in. A woman with poorly dyed red hair that was probably supposed to be the same color as Bradley's looked up. A brief glimmer of confusion crossed her features before she smiled. "You must be Bradley Taylor!"

"Oh good, you were expecting me." Bradley hoped her tone was right. She hadn't really thought about the fact that, by choosing a tiny school to join, everyone was going to know who she was. It was a little nerve wrecking.

The woman, Mrs. Cope by the nameplate on her desk, giggled. "I figured you may have had trouble with the snow when we didn't see you this morning. So many warm weather transfers!"

Bradley didn't understand the comment about warm weather transfers but let it go. She wanted to get on with this ridiculous day. Mrs. Cope handed her approximately 72 forms to fill out and when Bradley was finally finished with them, she handed her a class schedule and a school map.

"The lunch period is just about to start. I'll walk you over," Mrs. Cope offered as she pulled her jacket on. She looked at Bradley in her thin cotton hoodie and frowned. "Don't you have a jacket?" she asked.

Bradley didn't feel like getting into the details of her ordeal at this point so instead she feigned shock and said, "Why?"

Mrs. Cope just frowned again and led her out the door. Bradley suppressed the shivers that threatened to take over her ability to move and followed Mrs. Cope to the cafeteria. Students were making their way to the cafeteria as well but were stopping to chuck snowballs at each other. Bradley was suddenly grateful for the over-friendly secretary walking next to her. Even if someone wanted to initiate the new kid with a snow bath, surely they wouldn't throw a snowball near an adult.

They made it to the cafeteria unscathed and Mrs. Cope began to look around. "Let's see...who can we...Oh! Bella!" Mrs. Cope called and waved.

A girl with brown hair and brown eyes turned around and walked over after saying something to her friends. She walked over and Bradley could see her brow crease as she probably pondered why she was being pulled away from her lunch period.

"Bella, this is Bradley Taylor. She's new here. Would you mind showing her around the cafeteria and maybe pointing her in the right direction for her next class? Bella is new here too," Mrs. Cope added to Bradley.

Bradley was all at once embarrassed to be forced on someone and relieved to not be walking into the cafeteria alone. She had planned to have a few classes to meet some people before having to walk into a cafeteria and find some place to sit.

Bella smiled at Bradley as Mrs. Cope walked away. "Welcome to Forks," she said with a little bitterness in her voice.

"Uh, thanks. So, you're new here too? When did you come, in like third grade?" Bradley was sure that "new" was a relative term here in Forks.

Bella laughed and Bradley was relieved that this was a girl who understood sarcasm. "Last week actually," Bella told her.

"Oh! You're for reals new! Nice! Maybe I won't be a total freak then."

"Don't count on it. I'm a little relieved to turn over the spot light actually. Thanks," Bella grinned at Bradley.

"Great. Can't wait," Bradley answered sarcastically. "Where are you from, Bella?"

"Pheonix."

"Ahhh, warm weather transfers," Bradley remembered. Bella's brow crinkled again but Bradley just shook her head. "I'm from southern California so, girl, you are my people."

"Excellent! Someone to hate the snow with me!" Bella laughed.

"Seriously! What is this crap?" Bradley exclaimed as they entered the cafeteria.

_You have got to be kidding me_, a familiar voice in Bradley's head grumbled.


	9. Chapter 9

_OK, so from here I will basically follow **Twilight** and/or **Midnight Sun** (can I confess that I think I love **Midnight Sun** more than **Twilight**...I like being inside Edward's head...hence, Bradley). I also want to remind everyone that I do not own **Twilight** or its characters...as I said before, I'm just not that cool._

**Chapter 8**

Bradley shook her head to clear the errant thoughts that weren't her own. She hadn't thought she was tired enough to be hearing voices! Bella was looking at her waiting for a response to a question Bradley hadn't heard.

"I'm sorry. What did you ask?"

"I asked if your family had just moved," Bella repeated.

"Oh. No, I'm doing a student exchange only no one actually-HEY!" Bradley cried out as some idiot patted her rear end. She whipped around ready to swing at someone when she was stopped short by a figure towering over her. The huge boy grinned down at her with his typical mischievous look in his eyes. "Emmett!" Bradley threw her arms around his neck.

Emmett hesitated for just a moment before wrapping his arms around her. His body was rock hard and freezing, especially after having been out in the snow, but she didn't care. Bradley was so happy to see him she could feel the tears well up in her eyes. She was suddenly aware that most of the cafeteria was staring at her and Emmett so she released his neck. She was starting to feel cold again against his icy body anyway. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We live here," Emmett responded, laughing. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Student exchange. Is the rest of your family-" Bradley's question was cut off as she looked up to see Alice and Edward making their way over. Alice looked genuinely excited to see her but Edward looked tense.

"Hi, Bradley!" Alice's little bell voice chimed. "This is certainly a surprise!" The two girls hugged.

"Alice! It is so good to see you guys! Hey Edward!"

"Bradley," Edward nodded and leaned over to give her a quick embrace. _Don't sit with us_.

_What_? Hurt and anger quickly flashed across Bradley's face before she remembered that there was a cafeteria full of people watching her and the Cullens.

_Please_, Edward's tone was pleading although his face betrayed nothing. _I'll explain later_.

_Fine_, Bradley snapped, still upset. "Well, I don't know about Bella but I'm starving," she said aloud in her most natural tone. "Do you guys know Bella? She just moved here last week." Edward groaned in her head but the three Cullens smiled politely. Bradley didn't understand what Edward's problem was. Bradley glanced back at Bella who looked like she was hoping to fall through the floor which Bradley thought was a strange reaction to a simple introduction. "So I'll see you guys later?"

"Yep!" Emmett answered. Bradley loved that he seemed as excited to see her as she was to see him.

"Great. See you soon then." Bradley noticed Jasper and Rosalie sitting a table watching them carefully. She waved to them and they both waved back. Jasper seemed kind of amused but Rosalie's smile was completely forced.

It took all of what was left of Bradley's waning energy to try to go back to "normal high school day" mode. "So, food?" Bradley asked Bella once the Cullens started to walk away. Bella motioned weakly toward the line to buy food. By this point, there weren't too many people still getting food. Most students had already settled into their spots which meant that most students had seen the little display Bradley had put on with the Cullens.

Once Bradley and Bella had gotten their lunches, although Bella's couldn't really be called a lunch-she just got a drink, Bella led Bradley to a table full of kids. After a bunch of introductions Bradley sat down between Bella and a girl named Angela. As they sat down, another girl sitting at the other end of the table not so quietly whispered sarcastically to the person sitting next to her, "Oh good. They're both here."

Bradley's eyes flashed and she was about to let this chick have it when Edward's voice in her head warned, _Don't_. She shot him a quick glare across the cafeteria but something in his tone kept her from opening her mouth. She settled for turning her glare on the girl who pretended not to notice.

"So Bradley, you're from California?" a short girl with a lot of dark curly hair asked. Bradley thought her name was Jessica.

Bradley didn't want to know how she knew that or what else they all already knew about her. "Yep. Near Anaheim."

"Wow! Is it warm there?"

"Warmer than here for sure. I could definitely do without this snow business especially since my jacket is stuck in a suitcase somewhere near Timbuktu or something," Bradley added a little bitterly.

"So does that mean you don't want to join the snow ball fight after school?" a cute faced blond boy asked. Bradley's only response was a grimace and she noticed that Bella did the same.

"You two don't know what you're missing out on!" the boy exclaimed. He looked like he was going to try to convince them of the wonders of snow and the art of snowball fights but Jessica butted in.

"So," Jessica cut him off, obviously wanting to move on to more important topics. "You know the Cullens?"

Bradley didn't hear any specific thoughts from Edward but could feel his tension in her head. It added to the dull headache she already had from lack of sleep. "Yeah, sort of. I met them this summer. Our families were camping in the same area."

"Really? You looked pretty friendly with them." Jessica was definitely pumping her for information and Bradley noticed that everyone at the table had stopped their own conversations to listen. She was pretty sure the kids at the surrounding tables were trying to eavesdrop as well.

_What's the deal with these guys_? Bradley wondered.

_You're the first one to know anything about the 'mysterious' Cullens_, Edward answered.

_What do I say?_

_Answer as truthfully as you can but keep the secrets. And hurry up, she's waiting._

Bradley sighed. "We hung out a bit and I got to know them a little," Bradley said aloud hoping it would appease the nosy girl.

No such luck. "Only a little?"

"It was only a week. Well, I had met Edward once before but that was only in passing." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Bradley regretted them.

"Oh, really? So you've known Edward for a while then?" Jessica lit up at this new tidbit of information.

"Well, not really. Like I said, I met him once like 3 years ago. It was at a different campground and we literally talked for like 2 minutes."

"I wonder what he was like back then," the girl sitting next to Bradley, Angela, pondered aloud. She didn't seem to have the same gossipy motive as Jessica, she just seemed genuinely curious. Jessica clearly approved of the interruption in her interrogation though as she eagerly turned to Bradley for her response.

"Oh, pretty much the same as he is now," Bradley answered with a smirk.

_Funny_, Edward said sarcastically.

Bradley tried to hide her smile by taking a drink.

"So, did you and Edward hook up then?" Jessica was clearly done beating around the bush. If anyone had considered moving back to their own conversations they definitely abandoned that plan now. Everyone in a 3 table radius was looking at her.

Bradley almost spit her drink at snowball boy who was sitting across from her. She could feel Edward's tension in her head again. "Um, no." Bradley answered definitively.

"Why not?" Jessica demanded.

"Edward is definitely not my type." Edward scoffed in her head.

"Gorgeous is not your type?" Jessica asked incredulously.

"Edward is too..."

_Careful_, he warned. Bradley couldn't tell if he was concerned about the family secret or his reputation.

"...pretty. I can't handle a guy who looks like he's spent longer than me to get ready."

Edward chuckled in her head. Bradley glanced over at the Cullens' table and could see Emmett's shoulders shaking with silent laughter and smirk on Jasper's face. She had forgotten about the super hearing and that it wasn't only Edward who knew what was going on all the way across the cafeteria.

Jessica looked Bradley up and down and it was clear that she thought everyone on the planet must spend more time than her to get ready. Bradley considered for a second defending herself and explaining her crazy journey to get to this place but then decided against it. Truth was, she didn't spend a whole lot of time getting ready in the morning.

The other reactions to Bradley's comment varied. The boys at the table seemed to approve of what she said while most of the girls seemed to think she was crazy. Angela simply giggled and Bella looked pensive.

"So what is your type then?" one of the boys asked carefully.

_Aw crap_, Bradley thought. _What have I done_?

Edward snickered.

"Of the Cullens?" she asked, trying to contain this mess and continued before anyone could clarify. "I'd go Emmett for sure."

Everyone at the table turned to look at the Cullens who seemed to be chatting like most of the other groups of students not in earshot of Bradley but Bradley could see the smug look on Emmett's face. _Stupid super hearing_, she thought.

"Emmett? He's totally scary," the jerky girl from the beginning of lunch said.

This only seemed to please Emmett more so Bradley countered, "Scary? Nah, he's a pushover. A big teddy bear."

Emmett shot a dirty look at Bradley but Rosalie smacked him under the table before anyone noticed. Bradley thought Rosalie looked a little miffed at her comment so she added, "Doesn't matter anyway, though. Rosalie and Emmett are perfect together. And I'm pretty sure Rosalie could take me."

_Well done_, Edward complimented. _Rose liked that_.

Bradley grinned and decided she'd had enough of the spotlight for the time being. "So, what do you guys do around here for fun?"

This set everyone to talking about the various joys of living in Forks, Washington. There was a lot of "Oh! We have to..." and "We'll take you to..." going on. Bradley smiled and nodded appropriately and asked occasional questions to keep them from probing any further into her relationship with the Cullens. Edward seemed pleased enough with her efforts.

By the end of lunch Bradley was completely spent. Going to her last two classes was going to feel like a vacation.


	10. Chapter 10

_Thanks to everyone who put my story in their favorites or on their alert...it means alot that folks are actually reading my story! Please, please, please let me know what you think!_

_This chapter is a little short...but here it goes :)_

**Chapter 9**

Bradley was relieved when the bell signifying the end of lunch came.

"Where are you headed?" snow ball boy, whose name, Bradley learned, was Mike, asked.

Bradley looked at her schedule. "Math," she replied.

Mike looked vaguely disappointed when the boy who asked about her type, Connor, excitedly said, "I have math too!"

Bradley smiled and tried to hide her amusement at the overly eager boy. _These people sure are friendly_, Bradley thought to herself. _Or they really don't get much excitement_.

_Or they are hitting on the new girl_, Edward added.

_Shut up_, Bradley grumbled back.

"Um, are you ok?" Connor looked concerned. Bradley couldn't figure out where this was coming from until she realized that she had been frowning at Edward's comment.

"Fine. It's just been a long day," Bradley smiled.

_You are going to have to get better at mental conversations_, Edward told her.

_Or you could just stay out of my head_, Bradley suggested, trying to keep her friendly smile in place. When Connor gave her a confused look she knew she had failed. Edward laughed in her head.

Bradley sighed and stepped back into the cold to walk to the math building. Connor offered up his jacket about 7 times in the less than one minute walk but Bradley refused. She was pretty sure Edward was only teasing but she wasn't taking any chances. She did not come to Forks for _that_ kind of distraction. And, besides, what she had been trying to distract herself from was actually here!

"Here we are," Connor announced and proudly ushered Bradley into the classroom. The teacher at the front glanced up when they stopped in front of his desk. "Hi, Connor," he said sounding a little bored. Finally, he noticed Bradley.

"Mr. Varner, this is Bradley. She's starting today," Connor explained.

Mr. Varner just looked confused. "I don't think we've got a new student in this class," he said as he started fumbling around his messy desk for a notice or something that he may have misplaced.

Bradley and Connor both frowned. Bradley had really hoped she'd had her share of bad luck for one day.

"Can I see your schedule?" Mr. Varner asked.

Bradley handed him the schedule and noticed that, once again, everyone was staring at her. She sighed and waited for the confusion to get worked out.

"Oh, I see. Bradley, you have Calculus. This is a Trig class," Mr. Varner announced. "Connor, show Bradley to Ms. Launer's room, please."

As soon as they were back in the hall Connor turned on Bradley. "I thought you were a junior," he accused.

Bradley didn't really understand the hostility. "I am," she shot back trying to keep her annoyance to a minimum.

"Calculus is a senior level math class."

"I'm good at math," she said as if the answer were obvious. She wasn't the only junior in her old school that was taking senior Calculus. Besides, she _was_ good at math and didn't think she should feel bad about that. Her mother was a math teacher and her father was an accountant. It was in her blood.

Connor sighed and pointed to the door they had just reached. "Here's your room," he sounded sad. "I can meet you after class to show you where to go next," he perked up as this thought came to him.

"Great," Bradley did her best not to sound sarcastic. _Mood swing much_? she thought as she opened the door to the new class.

She walked over to the teacher and was glad that this one seemed to expect her. "Sorry," Bradley apologized for being late. "I was led astray."

The teacher raised an eyebrow at her and motioned to a seat for her to take. Bradley turned to walk down the narrow aisle fully aware that every pair of eyes was on her. As she neared the back of the row she looked up to see the empty seat was behind a grinning giant.

Bradley felt relief wash over her as she took her seat behind Emmett. Even though Bradley didn't mind meeting new people, it was still a relief to know someone. Bradley settled into her seat and took out a piece of paper from her backpack. The lecture had started and Bradley was happy to see that this class was pretty much in the same place as her old class so she wouldn't be playing catch-up.

Ms. Launer let her students start on their homework for the last 15 minutes of class. "Emmett, share your book with Bradley," she said after she had written the assignment on the board. "Bradley, I'll have a book for you tomorrow. I have to dig one out of the book room."

"No problem." Bradley was actually glad not to have the bulky math book added to her backpack which was still holding all of her carry on items from her disastrous flight.

Emmett sighed and made a show of being very put out by having to share with the new girl. She kicked his shin and only hurt herself in the process. "Ow," she frowned.

"That's what you get for being violent," Emmett retorted and laughed quietly. "I can't believe you're here! I didn't think we'd ever see you again."

"I know! I'm so happy you guys live here!" Bradley had to work to keep her voice down and contain her excitement.

Emmett's face suddenly clouded over as he remembered something. "Teddy bear?" he grumbled.

Bradley snickered. "What?" she asked innocently.

"I have a reputation here. I'm scary. It works for me. Could you please try not to take down all of my hard work in one day?"

Bradley laughed again. "I'll try."

When the bell rang they cleaned up their stuff and headed out the door. Connor was there waiting for Bradley. Emmett frowned down at him and Connor shuffled his feet nervously. "Uh, hey, Brad. Where are you headed to next?"

Bradley checked the schedule. "Spanish," she said. "Spanish 4," she added to avoid any further confusion.

Emmett grinned which made Connor go a little pale. "That's where I'm headed too. Let's go." Emmett lightly grabbed Bradley by the elbow and led her down the hall, leaving Connor staring.

"Um, Em, you can let go now," Bradley said once they were outside. "What was that all about?"

"Edward let us know what they were all thinking. I don't like that kid. And what's with him calling you 'Brad' anyway?" he demanded.

"You call me 'Brad'. Most people call me 'Brad' actually," she reminded him.

"He doesn't even know you. It's way too familiar," Emmett grumbled.

Bradley just lifted an eyebrow at him and let it go. He continued to seethe all the way to Spanish class where they met Edward at the door. _Nice_! she thought. _You're in this class too_?

Edward simply smiled weakly at her.

"How was it?" Emmett asked.

Edward just shook his head. Bradley tried to figure out what was going on but Edward wasn't letting her in his head.

"Well, no one died, right?" Emmett shrugged.

Edward just rolled his eyes and led the way into the classroom. Once again Bradley took the only empty seat which was behind Emmett. She was concerned about Edward. He was intentionally not sharing his thoughts with her which probably meant he was focusing his efforts elsewhere. He couldn't stop her from feeling his stress though. It throbbed in her head.

Bradley was fairly certain that Edward and Emmett were having a conversation of sorts. She knew Emmett couldn't hear Edward so the conversation had to be pretty one sided. Suddenly Edward jumped out of his seat and excused himself from the class. Bradley's eyes widened and her concern deepened.

The teacher sent Emmett out to check on his brother. When he returned alone five minutes later he made some excuse about Edward not feeling well. Bradley was pretty sure vampires didn't get sick.

_Edward_? she thought. _Are you ok_?

_Fine_, Edward snapped. She got nothing else from him and she knew the conversation was over.


	11. Chapter 11

_Thanks for the reviews! A special thanks to abbyweyr for the most reviews :) Sorry for any mistakes. I, like Bradley, am actually a math person so spelling, punctuation and grammar are not my strengths._

_Hope you enjoy this short chapter. Let me know what you think :)_

**Chapter 10**

The rest of her first day at Forks High was less eventful. Spanish class ended without another sign of Edward and Emmett wasn't talking about it so Bradley didn't push the issue. She was too tired to worry about their silly vampire games.

As she stepped out of the foreign language building, she groaned. She had forgotten how cold it was out there although at this point the snow had turned to rain so it had to have been a little warmer. She hoped this Kevin Lincoln kid that she was supposed to hitch a ride home with was easy to find.

"Do you know Kevin Lincoln?" Bradley asked Emmett as they made their way toward the parking lot.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Bradley, this school is tiny. Everyone knows everyone."

Bradley suppressed the urge to stick her tongue out at him. "Good then help me find him," she said instead.

"Why do you want to find Kevin Lincoln?" Emmett asked his eyes narrowing. "How do you even know Kevin Lincoln?"

"He's supposed to give me a ride back to Elaine's," Bradley answered wondering, once again, what Emmett's deal was.

"Speak of the devil..." Emmett muttered as a boy sauntered over, grin on his face.

The boy was so obviously an athlete it almost made Bradley laugh. Even if he took off his highly decorated letter jacket she still would have pegged him for an athlete. He was very good looking with his classic blond hair, blue eyes and one dimpled smile. He just looked like he should be tackling someone. If it weren't for Emmett towering next to her, his height and broad shoulders would have been a little more noticeable.

"Bradley," the boy said without a question. "I'm Kevin. Need a ride home?" He threw in a wink for good measure.

Bradley stifled a laugh. This kid was confident! Bradley also noticed that almost every girl that walked by was looking wistfully in her direction but whether that was because she was talking to Kevin or standing with Emmett, Bradley wasn't sure. She was surrounded by good looking boys.

"Beats walking home," Bradley smiled at Kevin. "Thanks for agreeing to it. I hope it isn't inconvenient."

"Nah. Elaine lives right near us so it's no trouble at all. Besides, cute girl like you in my car, how can I go wrong?"

Emmett, who had been standing inhumanly still up to this point, finally moved. He seemed to grow next to her, almost the same way a bear pulls itself up to full height and width when it feels threatened. Kevin threw Emmett a glance but his face didn't lose it's smile. Only his eyes betrayed his nervousness.

Bradley frowned at Emmett but otherwise dismissed his actions. "See you tomorrow?" she asked him.

Emmett gave a single nod, not taking his narrowed eyes off of Kevin. As Bradley walked away, she swore she heard a growl rumbling in Emmett's chest. She made a mental note to ask one of his siblings about his behavior when she got a chance. Since Edward was clearly having issues, she decided her best bet was to try Alice.

When Bradley climbed into Kevin's car she hear a not so quiet comment from a girl nearby. "Some girls get all the luck," the bitter voice grumbled. Bradley looked over to see that jerky girl from lunch glaring at her.

"Who's that?" Bradley asked Kevin, nodding at the jerk.

Kevin looked over and rolled his eyes, "Lauren Mallory. Ignore her. She's angry at the world."

"I see." With the exception of Lauren Mallory, everyone at Forks High seemed to be really nice. Bradley didn't worry too much about it. One person should be easy enough to avoid.

Kevin chatted away for the ride home which was only 10 minutes long. Bradley tried to keep up her end of the conversation but she was quickly losing ground to the exhaustion that was settling over her. Kevin dropped her off in front of Elaine's house and waited until she was inside before pulling away.

Bradley found a note from Elaine telling her where to find her room and food. Bradley staggered upstairs and found the room easily. There were only three doors upstairs and Bradley assumed the other two were Elaine's room and the bathroom. The room was small and simple with only a bed, desk and dresser for furniture. At the moment Bradley only cared about the bed. She took the two steps needed to make it there and then let herself collapse.

She felt like she had only been sleeping for 5 minutes when she was awakened by banging and the doorbell. It took Bradley a minute to remember where she was before she was able to pull it together and stumble back downstairs to get the door. There was a man from the airline standing there with her luggage.

"Thanks," she muttered, still barely coherent. She lugged the bags upstairs and decided to unpack rather than fall back asleep. She didn't want to be up in the middle of the night after having slept all afternoon.

After she unpacked and set up the room as she wanted, she wandered back downstairs to check out the food situation. She found some pasta in a cupboard and some sauce in the fridge and decided that would make a good dinner. She made enough for both Elaine and herself and was pretty proud when she timed the dinner perfectly for Elaine's return home.

"Whoa," Elaine exclaimed. "I can get used to coming home to dinner on the table!"

Bradley laughed. "Well, I hope you like pasta then because this is pretty much the extent of my cooking skills."

"I'll take it!" Elaine sat down and enthusiastically dug into her dinner.

Elaine was really easy to talk to. They chatted about their days and a little bit about their families. They both enjoyed sports and being outdoors. Elaine understood Bradley's sarcasm and threw in a little of her own to keep Bradley on her toes. Bradley was really excited that Elaine was not the old spinster she had imagined and thought that this living situation would suit her well.

After dinner, Bradley called her mom to let her know that she was alive and had survived her first day, in the snow no less! Her mother sounded relieved to hear from her but there were no tears so Bradley considered the conversation a success. When she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, about 8:30, Bradley crashed for the night.


	12. Chapter 12

_Thanks for the reviews! Here's the latest :)_

**Chapter 11**

When Bradley's alarm woke her the next morning, she was still a little groggy. She didn't know how that was possible after over ten hours of sleep but she had to pull herself out of bed to get ready. Elaine was already downstairs when Bradley dragged herself into the kitchen. She chuckled as her house guest stopped in the doorway and stared blankly.

"Not a morning person?" she laughed.

Bradley's brow crinkled as if she didn't really understand the question. She had always had a hard time getting going in the morning. Usually by the time she got to school she was fine but the first 30 minutes or so after getting up were a little dicey. Bradley settled on shaking her head to answer Elaine's question.

"Me either but I've already been up for an hour. I don't have much for breakfast food. PopTarts, cereal, some bread for toast," Elaine sounded apologetic but Bradley just nodded. She wandered to the cabinet and grabbed a strawberry PopTart. Kevin was going to be there any minute anyway.

Elaine looked surprised when less than two minutes later there was a knock on her front door. She raised an eyebrow at Bradley and got up to answer the door. "Good morning, Kevin!" Elaine greeted a moment later.

_Why didn't he just honk_? Bradley wondered as she grabbed her things and pulled on her coat. Of all the possessions that had been delivered the afternoon before, Bradley was most grateful for that jacket. It was still freezing outside.

She mumbled goodbye to Elaine and stepped out the front door where Kevin was waiting. She took one step out and almost landed on her butt. If Kevin hadn't caught her she would have completely wiped out.

"Careful!" Kevin exclaimed. "Everything froze last night"

Bradley looked around and, sure enough, everything: the road, the grass, the trees, the houses, _everything_ was covered in a layer of ice. It would have been really beautiful if it weren't so stinking annoying.

"I didn't realize I was supposed to pack ice skates," Bradley grumbled. Kevin laughed and helped her get her feet steady. He held her arm all the way to the car which Bradley thought was completely unnecessary. Now that she knew there was ice, she would be more careful. She didn't need someone to walk with her.

"So," Kevin started once he was in the car, "I'm a 'stop for coffee on the way to school' kind of guy. Hope that's ok."

"A man after my own heart," Bradley answered and immediately regretted it. Kevin seemed to like that a little too much and Bradley didn't want to give him the wrong idea. He was cute and all but she was not looking for a fling in her short time in Forks. Especially not since reconnecting with her summer friends.

They made it to school relatively unscathed despite the ice that threatened to send every car on the road skidding off into a ditch. They chatted about safe topics like school and family after Kevin made a thinly veiled comment about her tongue ring and Bradley shot him down.

The parking lot was slowly filling as they got to school. Everyone was walking carefully so as not to wipe out on the ice. Bradley saw Edward and Alice standing by his silver Volvo looking intently at something. Bradley got out of Kevin's car and wished him a good day before making her way toward her friends.

Everything happened very quickly. Bradley was walking toward Alice and Edward, who were still looking at something. Bradley was about to turn to see what they were looking at when a look of horror flashed across Alice's face. Only a second later, Bradley heard the awful screeching of tires and Edward disappeared (but she swore she heard him yell "NOT HER!"). Not quite processing Edward's disappearance, Bradley turned to see a van skidding across the icy parking lot and headed for an old red truck. Between the van and the truck stood the first student Bradley met at Forks High, Bella Swan.

The van slammed into the back of Bella's truck and then curled around to hit the car next to it before it seemed to settle. In a final burst of destruction, all of the windows in the van shattered. It was absolutely silent in the parking lot for a split second before everyone exploded.

There was screaming and some crying and everyone was rushing to the accident. Above it all Bradley heard Edward's panic, _Is she hurt_? Bradley was scared to look at the accident for fear that she would see Bella, who she really hoped would become a friend here, squished between the now mangled van and car. Bella's truck seemed to suffer only minor damage.

Bradley rushed over to where Alice had now been joined by Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper. They were the only ones who were not joining in the melee. "What happened?" she whispered, knowing they would hear her.

"He screwed up," Emmett muttered under his breath. It was now that Bradley took in their expressions. Rosalie was livid, Jasper and Emmett both had a disapproving look on their faces although Jasper's was far more intense. The three of them were staring at the wreckage and hadn't moved a muscle. Alice was staring off at nothing and Bradley couldn't get a feel for what she was thinking.

"Is he in there?" Bradley exclaimed. He had been standing next to Alice and Bradley knew that the vampires were fast but certainly he couldn't move _that_ fast! Emmett only gave a curt nod in reply.

_Edward_, Bradley began tentatively. She was fearful that he was hurt but also fearful of his reaction. She unconsciously moved closer to Emmett. _Are you ok_?

_We're fine_, there was relief in his mental voice and Bradley breathed a sigh of relief. She could tell he was getting a feel of the thoughts of the others in the parking lot and could feel his relief. She didn't know what anyone else was thinking but she sure hoped that no one else had seen his disappearing act.

_You're going to have to act normal_, _Brad_, Edward told her. _This situation may go badly_.

Bradley knew he meant exposure and she understood. Keeping the Cullens' secret was paramount to their ability to stay in Forks. Bradley would do her best to help them. She didn't want to lose them again.

Everyone seemed to relax a little once the van was moved out of the way and Edward and Bella were revealed to be ok. Most people seemed a little surprised that Edward was even there with her. As they loaded Bella and the driver of the van, Tyler, into ambulances, Bradley noticed Edward sort of running his foot along the dent in the car.

"What's he doing?" she muttered.

"Destroying evidence," Emmett answered quietly. Edward looked their way and gave a single nod to Emmett. Bradley was sure that Emmett was going to cover his brother's back, no matter how much he disapproved of his actions.

Just before Bella was loaded into the back of the ambulance, a police cruiser pulled up and an officer jumped out of the car yelling Bella's name. His concern was was obvious and Bradley instinctively knew that this was her father. She suddenly missed her own father and really wished for his presence. She again, unconsciously, moved a little closer to Emmett.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12**

When the craziness died down, students started to make their way to class. There was a large group of students that followed the ambulances to the hospital to make sure their classmates were ok.

The first couple of classes were a blur. It turned out that Bella was supposed to be in her first period and Edward in her second so both of those classes were a complete wash. All anyone spoke about was the accident. Bradley noticed that most of the concern was for Bella and Tyler. Not too much thought was put into Edward's involvement or well being.

By third period Bradley was almost annoyed with the lack of concern for Edward. Sure he was practically indestructible but the other students didn't know that! How could they be so callous?

Her third class was gym and the first person she saw when she walked in was Emmett. Smiling she walked toward him and was most of the way there before she saw Rosalie sitting next to him on the bleachers. The teacher had decided not to make them dress and participate due to the trauma of the day and everyone was sort of sitting around and gossiping. Bradley noticed the wide berth the other students gave Emmett and Rosalie.

Bradley sat backwards on the bleachers in front of Rosalie and Emmett so she could face them. Rosalie still looked angry but Emmett seemed to have gotten over it. After making sure no one was paying them any attention she said quietly, "So what does this mean?" She knew they would understand her question.

"Exposure," Rosalie hissed.

"I don't know, Rose. People don't seem to realize how he was involved," Emmett disagreed.

Bradley nodded. "There is a serious lack of concern for Edward in this place," Bradley said bitterly.

Emmett laughed quietly but Rosalie turned her glare on Bradley which made her flinch. "They don't notice us because we intentionally stay away from them. We don't want them to notice us so we don't do anything that draws attention. He ruined everything! Even if right now they don't know anything all of that will change as soon as this _girl_," she practically spit the word out, "starts talking. We're finished here!"

This was the most Rosalie had ever spoken to Bradley and it certainly wasn't what Bradley had hoped for their first real conversation. Bradley knew that Rosalie wasn't only speaking about Edward's actions today but also the exposure risk that she herself presented. Bradley didn't know how to respond, not that she had a chance because Rosalie continued.

"We have to fix this before it goes too far," she muttered. Bradley felt a chill run through her body that had nothing to do with her proximity to the ice cold vampires. She was worried that she understood all too well what Rosalie meant by "fix this."

"Rose," Emmett's tone was clearly a warning. "Let's see how this plays out."

Bradley felt a little relieved when she was called away by the teacher to get her gym uniform and locker figured out.

Bradley was pleased to find another Cullen in her fourth period class. This time it was Alice's face that greeted her. She was again staring off at nothing with a little frown on her face.

The only seat not taken in the science class was the one at Alice's lab table. Bradley noticed a pattern of isolation for the Cullens and Rosalie's words were making more and more sense. They did not want friends here for fear that someone might discover the truth. Bradley felt a slight pang of guilt as she sat next to Alice.

Once again, the class was spent with students gossiping and no real work getting done. The teacher gave them a worksheet to keep them busy but otherwise didn't much acknowledge the class in front of him except to frown at them if they got too loud.

"Alice, this is nuts. Is it as bad as Rosalie thinks?" Bradley asked.

"I don't know yet," Alice said carefully. "Rose and Jasper are very set on protecting our family and it's making it difficult for me."

Bradley didn't understand what Alice meant by Rose and Jasper making things difficult for her but was scared to push it any further. It was bad enough to think about what action Rosalie would take but adding Jasper to the mix made Bradley shudder. She'd had even less contact with Jasper than with Rosalie and something about him made her nervous.

Bradley decided to ask Alice about a different topic. "Hey Alice, something happened yesterday and I wanted to ask you about it."

"Ok," Alice said warily.

"Well, it happened a couple of times actually. Yesterday, when Connor met me after math class, Emmett got all bent out of shape and, then, he did it again when Kevin met me after school to give me a ride home."

"What do you think his problem was?" Alice asked cautiously.

"I don't know," Bradley started. She had a theory but was embarrassed to admit it in case she was totally off base. "He seemed sort of...I don't know...protective, maybe?" She fought the blush that was creeping up her face.

Alice smiled. "Good instincts," she complimented.

"Really? But why?" Bradley was relieved her theory was correct but still confused.

"He's very fond of you, Brad." Alice seemed to hesitate as she chose her next words carefully. She did a quick scan of the room to be sure no one was listening. The other students were still caught up in their exciting morning. "After you left with your family that last night, Emmett had a memory."

"What do you mean 'he had a memory'?"

"Well, our kind don't remember much from our human lives. Human memories are cloudy and they fade. Emmett really never gives much thought to his human life so he was shocked, as we all were, by such a vivid picture from it."

Bradley thought about this and could see how this was true. Emmett was an "enjoy what you've got and live in the moment" kind of guy. He didn't seem like one to dwell on the past, especially if that past was murky. He already seemed to have moved on and forgiven Edward for his actions and that was only this morning.

"What did he remember?" Bradley asked.

"He had a sister," Alice answered simply.

Bradley's brow crinkled. What did this have to do with her?

"He apparently adored his sister. She was younger than him and he was quite protective of her. He remembered teasing her but God help anyone else who even thought about giving her a hard time. He felt like he was a bad brother for not remembering her until then."

"So what triggered the memory?"

Alice looked at Bradley as though she were a little slow. "You. You remind him of her. The comfort you have around him, the teasing you two threw at each other all week. He hadn't felt that around a human since he was human himself."

Bradley was shocked and touched all at once. She had no idea that Emmett had felt that way. She certainly had loved being around him and enjoyed his good humor and even his teasing. Much the way, she imagined, a little sister loves being teased by her big brother because it means he cares.

Bradley was still pondering this new revelation as she walked to her next class, an elective which had been chosen for her: drama. She had been dreading this class more than any other, mostly because she didn't know what drama class would entail. She really didn't want to be rolling around on the floor pretending to be tumbleweed or something crazy like that. She was shocked when she walked in and saw Jasper.

"Drama?" she asked him incredulously.

He shrugged as he picked a hammer up out of a toolbox and tossed it in the air, spinning it neatly before catching it. "They let me hit stuff with a hammer," he answered and walked away to a pile of wood at the other end of the stage.

This class seemed to be a little more productive than the others that day. The students were still completely engrossed in the accident but, because this was a hands on sort of class, they gossiped while they built the set for the upcoming spring musical. Bradley helped where she could but mostly stayed out of the conversations. She knew Jasper was listening intently and she was still a little nervous about what Alice had meant about his and Rosalie's desire to protect their family.

By the time lunch rolled around most of the students who had gone to the emergency room to check on their friends had returned to school, including Edward. When she spotted him sitting in the lunch room with his siblings, Bradley was glad to see him and know that he was ok. Before she could take one step toward their table she heard him snap, _Sit with your friends, Bradley_. She knew he didn't mean them. She was stung by his harshness.

_What is going on, Edward? What is your problem_? she snapped back at him.

He sighed. _Later_, he promised. _I'll explain later_.

Bradley felt him flinch as she read his thoughts and knew that this was a promise he had already broken once today. He had promised Bella an explanation and hadn't delivered.

_You WILL keep it to me_, she declared as she stalked off toward the kids she had sat with the day before.


	14. Chapter 14

_So this chapter is long but Bradley gets some answers so that's good. I hope you enjoy it!_

**Chapter 13**

When Bradley walked into her first class the next morning Bella was already being bombarded with questions. Bradley could see that she was uncomfortable and just wished everyone would move on but that didn't seem likely anytime soon. Bradley threw her a sympathetic look and took her seat. Luckily for Bella, the teacher called the class to order, not wanting to waste another day.

As Bradley walked to her next class she readied herself to confront Edward. She was determined to get some answers and since she hadn't heard much from him since lunch the day before, she figured she was going to have to fight for them. After promising her an explanation, he spent the rest of the day blocking her out. The only thing she really got from him was in Spanish when he and Emmett had another silent altercation that ended with Emmett gripping Edward's arm for all he was worth and Edward, his control slipping for a second, was thinking something about stopping Jasper.

Bradley walked into the classroom and glared at him. She sat in the obligatory empty desk next to the Cullen and turned to face him. He looked back at her, his face completely blank. _Not here_, he said, pointedly looking around at their classmates.

She seethed for a moment before realizing that a few of the other kids were giving her a strange look. She decided that her staring contest with Edward would seem a little strange to them. She turned and looked straight ahead as the teacher began his history lesson.

_When_? she demanded.

Edward sighed. _After school. We can't have this conversation here_.

_Edward, so help me God_... she didn't finish her threat.

_We'll tell you everything. Just not right now. You aren't good enough at the silent conversations yet. Gettysburg._

She didn't understand the last part of his comment at all. As she turned to look at him in her confusion, she noticed the teacher looking at her and he seemed to be waiting for an answer. Bradley put two and two together and ventured, "Gettysburg?"

The teacher nodded in approval and continued.

_Thanks_, she muttered weakly. _Later then_.

She heard Edward stifle his laugh with a cough and, although it irritated her, she knew he was right about her not being good enough at the silent conversations to pull it off now.

They stayed out of each other's heads until the end of the school day. After the last bell, before Bradley could say anything, Edward told her, _Give me half an hour. I'll pick you up at Elaine's._

Bradley nodded and followed him and Emmett out of their Spanish class. She wondered only briefly if Edward needed directions to Elaine's but figured that in a town this small everyone pretty much knew where everyone else lived.

True to his word, Edward pulled up in his silver Volvo half an hour later. Alice was with him and Bradley noticed that the "never be alone with the human" rule was still in effect.

Bradley climbed into the back seat and asked, "Where are we going?"

"To our house," Edward answered. Alice continued to look straight ahead. She seemed to be upset about something.

The Cullens' reclusiveness wasn't just in school. They lived just outside of the town limits and up a long dirt road through the woods that would be almost impossible to find if you weren't specifically looking for it. The house was huge. The back side of the house seemed to be all glass and it overlooked a gigantic yard that ended at a small river. Over the river was more forest. Bradley walked into a gorgeous living room and saw Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie sitting there in various stages of anxiety and unease. Alice scowled at Jasper but took a seat next to him.

Bradley was about to say hello when she looked over and saw the most beautiful grand piano she'd ever seen sitting there. "Whoa," she said. "Is that an Essex grand piano?"

Everyone just stared at her as she walked over to it and sat down. She played a simple chord and moaned at the clarity. "Oh man..." she mumbled.

"Do you play?" Edward asked from behind her.

"A little," she answered. She was looking at some sheet music that was sitting on the stand.

"More than a little," he countered as he heard the music in her head while she read the music. "Play it," he said, curiosity in his voice.

She looked over the music for a moment longer and then let her fingers fly over the keys. She had to cheat a couple of sections where the music was so complex she doubted it was humanly possible to play it the way it was written. The song was beautiful but it wasn't one she had heard before. When she finished, there was a small applause from her audience behind her. Bradley blushed as she turned around. She had gotten so caught up that she had sort of forgotten they were there.

"Impressive," Edward complimented.

"What is it? I've never heard it before."

"I wrote it," Edward answered. Bradley's eyes went wide. What else was she going to learn about this amazing family? Which got her back down to business.

Edward nodded reluctantly and motioned for her to take a seat on the couch. Rosalie was sitting in a chair with her usual scowl, Emmett was perched nervously on the arm of the chair, Alice and Jasper were sitting on the floor in front of a huge flatscreen TV and Edward sat down on the other end of the couch.

"Bradley," Edward began, "as you know our secret is important. No one appears to have noticed too much of what happened yesterday, with the exception of you and Bella. Bella doesn't seem likely to tell what she saw," Bradley noticed Rosalie's scowl deepen at this, "but we are keeping our eye on the situation." Bradley didn't like the implications of that, especially not as she coupled this with the memory of Edward wanting to stop Jasper the day before and Rosalie's comment about needing to "fix this."

"That brings us to you," Edward continued.

"You know I'm not going to tell anyone about you guys," Bradley said, a little hurt that they didn't trust her. "I didn't even tell anyone when I thought I was never going to see you again."

Edward nodded but kept his face businesslike. "We appreciate that. But what we explained to you last summer is still true. We can't afford human friends, especially not here when we've spent so much time isolated from the other students." Edward showed no emotion as he was talking and Bradley couldn't bring herself to look at the others.

Bradley fought the tears of rejection that were threatening to fall. "It's a little late for that, isn't it? Everyone already knows that we're friends."

"No," Edward corrected. "Everyone knows that we've met. It is only natural for someone who is new to an area to be excited to see people she knows. If you keep your distance now everything can go back to the way it should be."

Suddenly, Bradley felt peaceful about this situation. It made sense, just like it had over the summer. Of course, the Cullens needed to keep out of the attention of others so that they could live their life. If Bradley was any sort of friend, she would do as they asked.

It all made sense until she looked up and saw Emmett. His face brought fresh tears to her eyes. He looked like he was in pain.

"NO!" she yelled. "What is that?" It dawned on Bradley that the peace she was feeling wasn't her own. "What are you doing to me?" she demanded glaring at Edward.

Edward's eyes went wide and as he tried to assess what Bradley knew, she gathered that Jasper was behind it. She whirled around to face Jasper.

"What is that?" she demanded again, this time glaring at Jasper.

Jasper took a deep breath. Bradley could sense the tension in the room as the Cullens tried to determine their next move.

"Can we do this my way now?" Alice's little bell voice broke the silence.

Bradley wasn't ready to let them off the hook at this point. "You promised me an explanation and this is what you do?" she turned back to Edward. "It's no wonder you don't have any friends outside of each other if this is how you treat people! You use your stupid vampire tricks to manipulate people! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry, Bradley," Edward's voice was barely a whisper.

"No, don't apologize for me," Jasper spoke up. "I'm sorry I tried to manipulate you, Bradley. We really are trying to do the right thing." Jasper's voice was sincere but business like. At any rate, Bradley didn't care at this point.

"You can both save your apologies. I'm leaving."

As Bradley got up to storm out of the house and away from this madness, Emmett stood up. "Brad, please," his voice was pleading. "At least let us explain. Besides, how are you going to get home?"

"I'll walk." She started for the door but Emmett was faster. He planted himself in front of her and the look on his face would have put any puppy to shame.

"Bradley," Alice chimed in. "Please, let me talk to you. If you'd like, I'll kick all the rest of them out of the room and it can just be us."

"They'll hear everything anyway," Bradley muttered under her breath. Emmett snickered in spite of himself and Alice nodded as if she knew that this was what Bradley was going to say.

Bradley sat back down purposely not looking at Edward or Jasper. Even though she was absolutely furious with them she was grateful that Edward was not trying to probe through her thoughts at the moment. She looked to Alice with look that clearly told her to get on with it.

"I told them their way would end badly," she started. Bradley rolled her eyes. "Brad, there are some things about us that you still don't know."

"I'm sure there are," Bradley retorted. If Alice didn't hurry up and get to the point, she would never know them because she was leaving.

"For example, remember how Carlisle said that some vampires have extra talents?" Bradley nodded. "Well, Edward isn't the only one in our family that has one."

In spite of herself, Bradley's interest was piqued. "I'm assuming Jasper has one," she said shifting her gaze for a second to throw him a dirty look. His face revealed nothing in return.

"Yes, Jasper can read emotional climates and manipulate them when he needs to. He can calm a person down or rile them up if he so chooses."

"That doesn't seem fair to the people being manipulated," Bradley snapped.

"Maybe," Alice's calm never wavered but Bradley was sure that Jasper had nothing to do with it. "But it can be very handy in tense situations. Our family does try to exist peacefully, despite what you may believe right now, and Jasper has helped us avoid conflict on more than one occasion."

Bradley said nothing and Alice took this as consent to the occasional usefulness of Jasper's skill. "I also have a talent. I can see the future."

Bradley was trying her best to keep her cool facade up. She had already anticipated Jasper's talent so it didn't really phase her. But seeing the future was something else entirely. Her jaw dropped and her eyes popped wide open. "You see the future?"

"Yes. There are some drawbacks, of course. The future can change depending on the decisions people make. I told them this was a bad decision but they didn't listen."

"You knew I would get angry," Bradley said this as a statement and not a question.

"Yes. But I also knew you would keep the secret. They," she nodded toward Edward and Jasper, "decided that as long as the secret was safe, then they would do what they had to."

"So, ultimately, the ends justify the means," again, Bradley's comment was a statement and not a question. She glared at the two boys for a moment before turning back to Alice.

"I tried to convince them to just tell the truth, like I am now, but I couldn't guarantee an outcome because their decision was made." Alice now scowled at her brother and her boyfriend. Both of them finally showed some emotion. There was clear regret at not trusting Alice's suggestion.

"Now," Alice continued, "I can still see that you are still going to keep the secret and that you are going to feel better about everything when all is said and done."

"But why do I have to avoid you at school?" Bradley asked, trying to get back to what brought them to this place.

"The reasons I gave you are still true, even if our methods were wrong," Edward finally spoke up. Bradley again felt the sting of rejection.

"I disagree," Alice countered. Edward threw his sister an exasperated look. "Bradley, you strike me as someone who gets along with everyone." She looked at Bradley for confirmation.

Bradley just shrugged. It was true. Bradley enjoyed all sorts of people and had never really boxed herself into one clique at her old school. It wasn't uncommon for her to sit at different tables at lunch or strike up a conversation with whoever was closest to her regardless of their social status. The kids at her old school just rolled their eyes when she sat with the "in crowd" one day and the band geeks the next. It was just Bradley being Bradley.

"So," Alice went on, "I think you just be yourself. Treat us the same way you do all the other students. Talk to us as often as the rest of them and people will start to see that's just who you are. Like you said, they already know that we know each other so it is natural for you to continue to talk to us. But, in the interest of keeping our low profile, it would be best if you also made other friends."

Now this made sense and Bradley knew that there was no supernatural force pushing her to feel this way. She nodded to Alice, "I can do that."

Alice smiled and got a faraway look in her eyes, "And it will all work out perfectly."

Everyone in the room relaxed as Alice told them what they had been waiting to hear.

But Bradley still wasn't done trying to get answers. She turned back to Edward, and trying to keep the lingering annoyance out of her voice, asked, "So what happened with the accident yesterday?"

Bradley was surprised as she heard Emmett chuckle and Rosalie scoff. "Edward has some issues with Bella Swan," Emmett answered.

Now it was Edward's turn to have a pained look on his face. "Bradley, as vampires we have urges," Edward said.

Bradley lifted an eyebrow but said nothing so Edward continued. "You know that we, as a family, have chosen not to feed on human blood but it doesn't mean that we aren't still tempted."

Bradley did know that. In fact, she knew that sitting in their living room probably wasn't the safest place in the world for her, but at no point did she feel threatened. "What does this have to do with Bella?"

"Sometimes there is a human that smells particularly...appetizing." Edward and Bradley both flinched at his choice of words. "Bella is like that for me."

"I don't understand," Bradley said, her brow crinkling. All of a sudden she felt a burning in her throat like someone had stuck a flaming hot branding iron down there. She also felt an overwhelming urge to tear through someone's flesh with her teeth instinctively knowing that the blood beneath the skin would sooth the burning. As quickly as the urge came, it left. Her eyes widened as she realized that Edward was using his memories to show her what he meant.

"That's how you feel when you are around her?" Even though she was still annoyed with him for his earlier antics, she felt genuinely sorry for him. She wasn't sure she would be able to resist whatever would make that burning and that urge stop.

Edward's face crumpled as he nodded. "Well, then why did you save her?" Bradley was relieved that Edward had stepped in and saved Bella's life but if that was how she made him feel, wouldn't it be easier if she were out of the picture?

"I would like to say it was because I didn't want her blood spilled in front of me, risking my exposing us all," Edward's voice was again barely above a whisper. "But I couldn't _not_ save her."

Bradley gasped as she caught more meaning in his words from his thoughts. "Edward, do you like her?"

His face filled with such anguish that Bradley almost teared up again. "So what does that mean?" she asked.

"Nothing. I will treat her like I do all the other humans. We'll finish high school, graduate and move on." Bradley didn't know who Edward was trying to convince but she certainly wasn't buying it.

_It has to work that way_, he thought. _There is no other alternative_. But in his thoughts Bradley saw two other alternatives: Bella's dead body in his arms and Bella as a vampire. Bradley gasped again.

"Edward!" she exclaimed.

"Oh c'mon!" Emmett yelled. "I hate when you guys do that!"

"You showed her my vision, didn't you?" Alice asked. Edward and Bradley both nodded. "Well, that hasn't changed, no matter what Edward thinks. It's only a matter of time before one or the other happens. And-"

Edward cut her off with a look but Bradley saw this memory too. It was a vision of Alice and Bella, arms linked around each other and smiling. "That doesn't seem so bad," Bradley said. "Alice and Bella look like they were friends."

"But if it leads to either of the other paths, I can't allow it!" Edward cried.

Emmett rolled his eyes. He was clearly tired of this topic and Bradley wondered how long the debate had gone on in the family. "Look," Emmett declared. "What's going to happen, is going to happen. Let's get on with it already!" Edward scowled.

"Emmett, you have the sensitivity of a bowling ball," Bradley rolled her eyes. Emmett just laughed. "Ok, look. I'm going to go along with the plan as it currently is because it's what I would have done in school anyway. But out of school, are we friends or not?" Bradley just wanted everything out on the table at this point. She needed to know where she stood with the Cullens.

They all looked around at each other and settled on Alice. "Yes, I think we are going to be good friends," she decided.

Edward showed Bradley what Alice's newest vision had been. It was a montage of Bradley and the Cullens hanging out and enjoying each other's company.


	15. Chapter 15

_So the next couple of chapters are going to deviate a little from the books because, well, not much happens for a few weeks and that doesn't work for me and Bradley's story. I hope they still entertain you :) Let me know what you think!_

**Chapter 14**

When Bradley woke up the next morning she felt pretty good about things. She was still a little irritated with Edward and Jasper for not trusting her but she could see their side. She knew they weren't trying to be malicious but were just looking out for their family.

Just before Emmett and Alice drove her home the night before, Carlisle and Esme returned home from their days. They both seemed genuinely happy to see Bradley and she was glad to see them too. Carlisle apologized for her hurt feelings when his children had told them what had transpired that afternoon. Esme had given her boys a disapproving look and hugged Bradley.

"So," Emmett said after Carlisle had apologized and Esme had comforted. "Can we keep her?"

Everyone laughed as Bradley shot him a dirty look. "I'm not a dog, Emmett."

"No. You smell way better than a dog," he teased and leaned over to inhale her scent.

After experiencing Edward's pain, Bradley didn't think this was such a good thing to joke about. "Don't smell me, Emmett," she said seriously. Everyone laughed again.

Yes, Bradley felt really good about how things ended. She was ready to get back to school and fulfill her role. It was a natural role for her to play and she would have done it anyway. At least now she also knew that she was helping her friends.

By the time Bradley got to school, she was ready to get started. It was her third full day but the previous two had been full of distractions. Today, she would be sure to learn names and start really meeting people. She already recognized most of the students in the school, even with the distractions. The school was too tiny not to see a familiar face every time you turned around.

Her first period class, English, was an easy group to start with. She already knew some of these kids because they were the ones she had been sitting with at lunch. Because Bella was in this class, people were still thinking about the accident and asking her questions. She had stopped answering politely and had just started snapping that she was fine. She seemed relieved when the teacher called for everyone's attention and began class.

_Poor Bella_, Bradley thought. As she thought her name she could feel Edward poking around in her head a little. Bradley rolled her eyes as she leaned over to whisper to Bella, "I wanted to thank you."

Bella looked confused.

"For taking the spotlight back," Bradley explained. "I didn't even have to be the weird new kid for a whole day!"

Bella scowled and Bradley suppressed her laughter.

"How about you take one for the team and maybe throw yourself in front of a bus to get yourself back in the spotlight?" Bella suggested sarcastically. Bradley heard Edward laugh in her head at Bella's joke.

"I'll work on it," she chuckled.

Throughout the class Edward checked in on her mind to see what Bella was doing at any given moment. It was a strange feeling for Bradley and she didn't like it. She was ok when they were having a conversation and in the same room but this was disconcerting and uncomfortable.

_Knock it off, Cullen_, she warned. _Use someone else's head to eavesdrop or I'm going to start announcing what's going on in your mind_.

She could practically see his eyes narrowing as he said, _You wouldn't_.

_Try me. Like the little daydream you picked out of Mike Newton's head and and replaced yourself with. That'd be a great place for me to start. I bet Emmett would love that._

She was pretty sure the gasp in her head was probably also audible to the people sitting around Edward in whatever class he was in at the moment. She had to hide her laughter with coughing but she still got a strange look from Bella. Edward backed off for the rest of the period but did give her a cold long glare when she saw him in the next class. Bradley simply smiled sweetly at him and struck up a conversation with Angela who sat on the other side of her.

She was excited to get to gym class for a bunch of reasons. First of all, Emmett was in gym class and she was always happy to see him, even if Rosalie was there too. Secondly, because gym was more informal she had a better chance to talk with people. Thirdly, they were in the middle of a volleyball unit. The first day they hadn't played because of the accident and the next day she had been so distracted by Edward's promises of explanations that she had barely noticed the boys "chivalrously" jumping in front of her every time a ball came near her. But, today, she was ready.

The gym coach broke them up into teams and Bradley took a look around her class for the first time. Forks High had all grades in gym periods but they were broken up into two groups: freshman and sophomores together and juniors and seniors. As Bradley took a look at the juniors and seniors in her class, she recognized most of them. Besides Emmett and Rosalie, Kevin, her ride to and from school, was in this class with a couple of the guys he hung out with and Connor, the boy who mistakenly took her to the wrong math class on her first day was in this class too. So was the jerk, Lauren.

As the game started, Bradley decided to bide her time and let the boys play hero for a bit. She rolled her eyes as one of Kevin's buddies, Dan, jumped in front of her to get to the ball. Finally, it was her turn to serve.

She took the ball and walked to the baseline.

"Uh oh," she heard another of Kevin's friends, Matt, say. "Watch your heads," he warned jokingly. Lauren laughed louder than was necessary.

Bradley narrowed her eyes at him and backed up a couple of steps. She bounced the ball twice and then tossed it into the air before launching herself up after it. Her arm swung in perfect timing as she drilled the ball over the net and off of Matt's shoulder, exactly where she aimed it, not wanting to take his head off. It had come at him so fast he hadn't even had time to put his arms up in defense.

The whole gym went silent for a moment as jaws dropped and everyone turned to stare at Bradley. "Oops," she said sweetly and motioned for someone to throw her the ball back.

Everyone jumped as Emmett's booming laugh echoed off the walls. It took a second before the other students joined in. Even the coach was trying to keep the smile off of his face. Matt looked appropriately chagrined and Bradley felt a little bad for embarrassing him.

"That's quite a serve you've got there. Can you do it again?" Coach Clapp asked.

Bradley shrugged and looked again at the other team who were almost all shuffling nervously at the idea of getting nailed by the ball. Matt looked especially concerned that she was going to drill him again so she picked a different target. Lauren Mallory was glaring at her and Bradley had decided she'd had enough of Forks' meanest student. She got herself set and let the ball fly again, this time aiming it for Lauren's lower legs. The ball hit exactly where she wanted it and Lauren whimpered.

"Sorry," Bradley called over, not sounding the least bit sorry at all.

"Can you put that where ever you want it?" Coach Clapp sounded impressed.

Bradley shrugged again. "Cullen, it's coming to you," the coach called over, picking a target that he figured at least had a fighting chance.

Emmett grinned at Bradley. "Bring it," he said.

Bradley smirked in return and held nothing back. She hit the ball with all she had and it soared directly at Emmett. Emmett was faster than his human classmates and was able to get under the ball but he over compensated and sent the ball flying off the ceiling.

"Do it again," he demanded and Bradley laughed. She noticed a bunch of the other students were trying to hide their smiles also.

"Hold on a second. I know you," Coach Clapp said looking at Bradley intently. Bradley crinkled her brow and frowned a little. "You were on the Olympic team last summer," he said. "The youngest player to ever play on the women's volleyball team. They did a story about you."

Bradley blushed a deep red as her classmates turned to stare at her again. Luckily, the bell rang for them to get changed and move on to their next class. _Maybe I should have just let them keep playing for me_, she grumbled to herself.

Two classes later, it seemed that the whole school knew about Bradley's volleyball prowess. She could hear the whispers as she walked between buildings and a few kids even congratulated her, which she thought was weird. When she walked into her drama elective, Jasper raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Piano protoge, volleyball goddess and mind reader. Got anything else up your sleeve?"

"I am not a piano protoge, I took lessons for years! And I'm not a mind reader. I can only read Edward's mind and even then, only when he's bugging me," she hissed at him, trying to keep her voice from being overheard.

Jasper shrugged. "Still. Are you sure you're human?" he questioned.

She stuck her tongue out at him stomped away as he laughed at her deepening blush. Luckily the other students said little to her about the volleyball thing. They were kids in a drama elective and not all that interested in sports.

Bradley was excited to get to lunch and make some more headway in the friends department. She'd had great conversations in her drama class and was excited to expand. She had decided not to sit at the table with Bella and her crew. It was time to branch out. She still decided to play it a little safe and sit with Kevin and his friends. She was pretty sure he wouldn't mind and she wanted to make sure Matt wasn't upset about gym class.

When Bradley got her food, she approached the table where Kevin, Matt, Dan and a few of their jock friends were sitting. "Hey guys, mind if I join you?"

The boys looked up in surprise and no one said anything for a moment. "Or not..." Bradley said awkwardly.

"No, no, no! Sit! Welcome!" Kevin exclaimed and reached back to pull an empty chair from a neighboring table. He placed it next to his and motioned for Bradley to take a seat. She noticed he didn't take his arm off the back of the chair so she made sure not to sit all the way back.

Her lunch with them was very amusing. They teased each other and joked around and seemed to have no problem giving her a hard time as well. She apologized to Matt for drilling him and he just laughed it off. He said something about "no shame in being dropped a peg by a cute Olympic athlete" and gave her a smile. Bradley felt Kevin's arm tighten around her chair and she suppressed the urge to pull her chair away.

She noticed that she got strange looks from a lot of the kids in the cafeteria. People here definitely stuck to their routines. The group of "cool" senior girls did not look like they appreciated Bradley moving in on "their" guys. Bradley made a mental note to sit with them soon and smooth that over. Her friends at Bella's table were also giving her strange looks. Connor looked particularly sad. Bradley smiled over at them and waved trying to communicate that she wasn't abandoning them forever.

On the way to her math class, Connor caught up her. "You don't want to sit with us anymore?" he asked dejectedly.

"I'll be back," Bradley promised. "I wanted to make sure Matt was ok with the gym thing," she added. "Besides, it's nice to change things up every now and then."

Connor didn't look like he agreed with the changing things up bit but he gave her a smile and said, "You were amazing in gym!"

Bradley blushed and muttered, "Thanks." She was glad they had reached his classroom at this point and she could get away.

When she walked into her math class Emmett glared at her. Unlike Matt, he was apparently still mad that she'd gotten the best of him in gym. She grinned at him and greeted him with a cheerful, "Hey, Em!"

"It is not over. Tomorrow, try it again. I'll be ready." Emmett was determined to redeem himself.

Bradley laughed. "Whatever you say, Emmett. I just hope you don't get embarrassed..."

Emmett snorted as if such a thing were impossible but couldn't respond because Ms. Launer was calling the class to order.

"Do we all remember what tomorrow is?" Ms. Launer began and the whole class groaned. Bradley definitely did not know what tomorrow was and was a little scared by the reaction of her classmates. "That's right, it's the last Friday of the month!" she continued with sarcastic enthusiasm. She turned to Bradley to explain. "The last weekend of the month everyone gets a take-home test. You may work in groups of 3 or 4 students but each is responsible for the answers on his or her own test."

Bradley nodded and glanced around to figure out whose group she should try to get into. Kevin was in this class also and so were a couple of girls from her drama class. Ms. Launer solved that problem by saying, "Most of the groups already have 4 students in them so I'm going to ask you to work with Emmett. The two other members of his group are in my other class so it will be good for him to have someone in this period to work with. You two are, of course, still free to work with Rosalie and Jasper also."

Emmett just nodded and Bradley tried not to look too excited at this turn of events. Now she had a legitimate reason to hang out with the Cullens outside of school.


	16. Chapter 16

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**Chapter 15**

At the end of the school day Bradley felt pretty good about how everything played out. She had met a lot of new people and really enjoyed most of them. She wasn't thrilled that the whole Olympic thing had come out but she figured that would blow over soon enough. She was especially pleased that she was placed in the Cullens' math group, giving her an excuse to be seen with them.

As she walked with Kevin to his car at the end of the day, he was lamenting about the dreaded Calculus "weekender". "Too bad you got stuck with Emmett Cullen for the test."

Bradley looked across the lot to see Emmett climbing into the Volvo. She knew he could hear their conversation so she asked, "Why? Is he dumb?"

Emmett stiffened and stopped halfway in the car. He slowly turned his head to glare at Bradley who stifled a laugh and climbed into Kevin's car. Sometimes she loved the super hearing.

"I don't think so," Kevin laughed. "They just aren't very friendly. But, you seem to be friendly enough with them," he added a little suspiciously.

Bradley shrugged. "I'm very easy to get along with and I'm very charming," she joked.

Kevin laughed again. "You are hard not to like. Although, Lauren seems to be doing a good job of not liking you."

Bradley rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm not sure what I've done in less than a week that has upset her but I'm not going to worry about it."

"Good. You shouldn't. Like I said before, she's just mad at the world. So, what's on the agenda for tonight?" he asked as they pulled onto their street.

Bradley had been dreading this night. Elaine had told her the day before that she worked the overnight guard shift at the bank on Thursday nights so she would be home alone. Bradley would have been terrified to spend the night alone in her own house, let alone in a relatively unfamiliar one.

To answer Kevin's question, she shrugged and said, "Elaine's working late so I'll just be around."

"Well, some of my buddies and I are going to play some basketball if you are interested. Or do you only do volleyball?" he said in teasing tone.

Bradley was grateful for an excuse to delay her freaking out about being alone so she jumped at the chance to get out of the house. "I'm in!"

She worried that she appeared a little too enthusiastic because Kevin grinned broadly at her. "Great! Give me 20 minutes and I'll swing over to get you!"

Bradley had a great time playing ball with the boys. It was the guys she had sat with at lunch plus a few other junior and senior guys, including Mike and Connor. Bradley wondered what the girls of Forks did in their out of school time. When she asked, the boys just shrugged. One of them suggested shopping and Bradley just grimaced. She'd take basketball in the misty weather over shopping any day.

The game was fun. There was a lot of trash talk and joking. The guys treated her gently until she sunk a few shots and then they started to put some pressure on her. Bradley was athletic enough to hold her own but she was far from being a fantastic basketball player. A couple of times she jokingly pulled the "girl card" when she fouled someone but only Connor seemed inclined to let her get away with it.

All too soon the rain picked up and forced an end to their game. "Sorry, maybe we should have driven," Kevin apologized as he and Bradley were running back to their homes. They had decided to walk there because the game was only a couple of streets over from theirs.

Bradley laughed. "It's fine. I won't melt," she joked.

"Most girls would worry about messing up their hair or something," Kevin said.

Bradley snickered and pointed to the mess that was her hair which was currently sopping wet and falling out of its customary knot. "I think this is a lost cause."

Kevin looked at her a little longer than was necessary and answered, "I still think it looks good."

Bradley blushed a deep red and was relieved that they had reached Elaine's house. She was maybe going to have to back off hanging out with Kevin and his friends for a little while. She said goodbye to Kevin and went inside to dry off.

Bradley spent the rest of the afternoon trying to convince herself that tonight was just another night but she failed miserably. She took a long hot shower to relax and stayed up as late as she could in the hopes that if she was really tired she would just fall asleep. When her eyes were stinging from being so tired she went upstairs to bed but not before checking the locks on the doors half a dozen times.

As soon as she laid down she was wide awake. Every sound made her jump and the shadows on her walls kept freaking her out. She had left the hallway light on hoping it would help but it just made a creepy glow underneath her door. Bradley spent the entire night tossing and turning and trying not to scream at every little noise. She finally fell asleep after Elaine got home at 6 am but her alarm went off less than an hour later.

Bradley was tired and grumpy when she arrived at school the next morning. She was certainly not in the mood for the attention and questions she was getting about her volleyball skills. Bella was suppressing a grin as Bradley fended off questions and when the teacher called the class to order Bradley stuck her tongue out at her.

Bradley stumbled through the day and hoped that this wasn't something she was going to have to deal with every week. She was seriously going to have to get over this fear of the dark and being alone.

The day passed mostly without incident. The only mildly exciting thing was during gym class when Coach Clapp told Bradley about a volleyball league that played near Port Angeles that she should look into. He said they met a few times a week and were pretty competitive. He gave her the name and phone number of one of the coaches he knew and told her they had a game on Sunday afternoon if she wanted to check out the level of competition. Her coach at home would be pleased if she were playing so she promised she'd check it out.

She'd decided to sit back at the lunch table with Bella and company because she wasn't feeling up to taking on a new group. Connor beamed at her as she sat down across from him. She was welcomed back with open arms and only given a slightly hard time for ditching them the day before.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Connor asked her at some point during the lunch period.

"We've got a take home test for Calculus," she responded.

To her surprised the whole table (except for Bella) groaned. Apparently, juniors lived in fear of the Calculus "weekender" and started to dread it before they even began the class.

"That's too bad," Connor lamented. Bradley just shrugged. "Who's in your group?" he asked throwing a suspicious look across the cafeteria at Kevin and his friends.

"Emmett Cullen," Bradley responded. "And Rosalie and Jasper Hale are in our group too but they aren't in our class."

The whole table just stopped and stared at her. Bella's eyes were especially wide. "What?" Bradley asked self-consciously.

"Are you going to their house?" Jessica exclaimed.

"I don't know. We haven't discussed it yet." Bradley decided that now was not the time to reveal that she had already been to Cullen Manor. She was pretty proud of herself for filtering while being so tired.

_Yes, thank you_, Edward agreed.

_Don't bother me_, she grumbled. He just chuckled.

By the end of the day, Bradley was pretty ready to crash. They had been given their Calculus weekender and Emmett had decided they should just crank through it that afternoon. Bradley wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to concentrate on it but she agreed. Emmett and Alice came to pick her up at Elaine's after school and brought her back to their house.

While Bradley, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper worked on their test, Alice was working on some project on a computer and Edward disappeared. Emmett explained that Edward was out running so that he could be alone with his thoughts.

"That makes sense," Bradley said. "I like to think while I run too."

"The difference is, he's probably already made to Seattle," Emmett teased.

"Yeah, yeah," Bradley muttered.

They decided to only work on the first part of the test that day because Bradley was struggling to keep her eyes open. Bradley knew that this test was really easy for them and that they were only going through the motions of group work.

She apologized a couple of times for keeping them back but Jasper responded with, "Well, after you've taken Calculus a dozen or so times, it's bound to stick. Don't feel too bad, Emmett failed the first four or five times."

Emmett responded by tackling Jasper which led to a wrestling match in the middle of the living room. Rosalie rolled her eyes and walked off to watch over Alice's shoulder as Alice worked. Bradley assumed that this was the end of their study session and curled up in the corner of the couch. After Esme chided the boys for wrestling inside Emmett plopped down next to her and began flipping through the TV channels at about 100 miles per hour.

"Emmett," Bradley said through a yawn. "Can you actually see anything when you flip that fast?"

Emmett chuckled, "Sure. My brain works much faster than yours," he joked.

Bradley threw her arm out to smack him but there was nothing behind it. She instead flopped herself over so she was leaning on him. Emmett stiffened next to her and seemed unsure of what he should do. Bradley was vaguely aware that maybe she shouldn't be cuddling up to the vampire but she was so tired and he was strangely comfortable for her.

"You're a safe person," Edward's voice said incredulously from somewhere behind the couch. Bradley hadn't noticed that he was back home.

"Huh?" Emmett clearly didn't understand.

"She feels safe next to you. You rank up with her father," Edward explained sounding a little confused himself.

Bradley wanted to tell Edward to shut up and stay out of her head but she just didn't have the energy. The last thing she heard before completely falling asleep was Edward's chuckle.


	17. Chapter 17

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**Chapter 16**

Bradley was back at the Cullen house the next afternoon to finish the Calculus test. It didn't take them very long because the Cullens could practically do the high school work in their sleep and Bradley, as she had said to Connor, was good at math.

When they finished the test, Rosalie went out to the garage to work on something but Bradley, Emmett and Jasper joined Alice in the living room. Alice was watching a _Project Runway_ marathon on TV. When Emmett suggested finding something else Alice shot him a death glare. Bradley was impressed that someone so tiny could be so terrifying.

They watched the show quietly for a while, occasionally commenting on the designer's decisions or reactions to things. At one point, Bradley joked, "I could totally rock that look," when a particularly hideous outfit was on screen.

"Ha! That would certainly turn heads in the halls at Forks High!" Emmett laughed.

"What are you trying to say, Emmett? That I wouldn't look fabulous in that?" Bradley tried to keep her tone incredulous but she couldn't help but laugh.

Emmett snickered. "Maybe if you wore that, Kevin and Connor would back off," he teased.

Without warning Bradley launched herself at Emmett trying to get her arm around his head in a headlock. She failed and Emmett playfully tossed her onto the chair that was halfway across the room. Bradley had wrestled with her brother, Tucker, many times but he was smaller than she was and certainly couldn't toss her across a room.

Bradley wasn't ready to give up though so she jumped off the chair. Emmett could see she was going to come at him again so he stood up too, grinning and ready. Bradley charged him again and he tossed her aside again, this time onto the couch. This continued for a bit with Bradley charging and Emmett tossing. Finally, Bradley charged and Emmett just grabbed her flipped her upside down. It happened so fast that, to Bradley, it seemed that she was on her feet one moment and upside down less than a second later.

"Emmett!" both Bradley and Emmett looked up sheepishly at Esme's cry. She was giving Emmett a look of shock and dismay.

"Uh, hi, Esme," Emmett said trying to sound casual as if he weren't standing in the middle of the living room holding a girl upside down by the ankle.

"Hi, Esme." Bradley also tried to go for casual as if she weren't being held upside down by the ankle and gripping her shirt to keep it from falling over her head.

"Emmett, put Bradley down right now." Esme, biological mother or not, definitely had the mom tone down. "I can't believe you would behave this way in front of our guest."

"She started it!" Emmett definitely had the 6 year old tone down. Bradley could see Jasper's head was down and his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. From where she was dangling she couldn't see Alice's reaction but imagined that the sight of her and Emmett would be pretty amusing.

Esme looked doubtful at Emmett's claim and Bradley felt bad for getting him in trouble. "It's true," she admitted. "I came at him first."

Esme shook her head at the two of them and gave her son one last hard look before walking away from them. Part of Bradley wondered if she was leaving the room because she too was going to start laughing in a moment.

"Um, Em? Can you put me down now? The blood is rushing to my head and my pants are starting to slip."

Emmett's laugh boomed and he dropped her not so softly onto the floor. Bradley lay in a crumpled pile for a second before groaning, "Ow."

"That will teach you to mess with the master," Emmett declared. He threw a look at Jasper that was clearly challenging him to defy his claim but Jasper didn't bite. He just shook his head and continued to laugh.

After a minute or two Bradley decided to get up off the floor and fix her clothes that had gotten all twisted around her while she was wrestling with Emmett. She pulled her hair out of its knot to fix it and heard Alice gasp.

"Bradley! Your hair!"

Bradley looked up alarmed. "What? What's wrong with it?" She looked down at the floor to make sure it hadn't all fallen out or something and saw nothing. She looked up at the giant windows where she could see a slight reflection. There didn't seem to be anything major going with her hair, just its usual mess. She self-consciously started to pull it back up into its knot.

"There's so much of it! I had no idea your hair was so long!" Alice exclaimed. Bradley couldn't remember the last time she wore her hair down so this wasn't a surprise to her but she didn't really understand why Alice was so shocked. Her hair came down almost to her waist and had gentle curls that flowed through it. She always kept it pulled back though because it annoyed her when it got in the way.

Bradley just shrugged as she sat back down on the couch but Alice wasn't done. "Do you always wear your hair up?" she asked.

"Uh oh," Emmett said under his breath and Alice shot him another glare.

Bradley gave Emmett a strange look but answered Alice. "Usually. It gets in the way otherwise."

"Bradley," Alice began in a serious tone. "You do know there are ways to style your hair so that it is functional and fashionable?"

Bradley just looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language. Alice sighed and continued. "You know, there are women who pay good money to have your hair color. And with that natural curl! Bradley, it is unfair for you to just pull it into that mess like you do!"

"Unfair to who?" Emmett asked. Bradley was glad he did because she was thinking it but didn't want to risk the wrath of Alice. She knew she was right in that when Alice shot her brother yet another terrifying glare.

"Bradley," Alice again said her name in a tone so serious that it suggested a topic other than hair. "You are a very pretty girl. We just need to get you styled properly."

"Run, Brad, run!" Emmett stage whispered. Jasper, who had also been avoiding the wrath of his beautiful but frightening girlfriend, couldn't hold back his laughter. Alice stared them both down until they were hanging their heads and not meeting her gaze.

Alice then turned back to Bradley, daring Bradley to deny her assessment. "Uh, sure, Alice. Sounds great?" Bradley's response came out like a question but it seemed to appease the little monster. Alice nodded and turned back to the TV.

Bradley shot Emmett a look that asked, _What the heck_? Emmett just shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes and Bradley noticed Jasper biting his cheeks to keep from laughing again.

The next day Bradley and Emmett headed out to Port Angeles to see the volleyball game that Coach Clapp had mentioned. Emmett had reluctantly agreed to go after Bradley begged and pleaded and gave him her best puppy eyes. He said that "people sports" were boring and then promised to show her how sports should really be played one day.

"I don't know, Em," Bradley said, her tone teasing. "You seemed to want to play 'people sports' in gym the other day. You know, when you couldn't return my serve?"

A growl formed in Emmett's chest and Bradley was suddenly aware that she was alone with a vampire for the first time. She wasn't scared of Emmett but she was curious.

"Hey, Em, can I ask you a question?" Bradley asked.

Emmett shrugged, "Shoot."

"Why are none of you ever alone with me? Until now that is."

Emmett smirked. "You noticed that, huh? Well, it's probably better that none of us are alone with you. You _are_ human and we _are_ vampires. You may not have the draw that Bella does for Edward but you are still a temptation."

Bradley flinched at the reminder of Edward's pain. "Does it hurt for you to be around me?" she asked, a little scared of the answer she was going to get.

Emmett thought for a moment and then slowly shook his head. "It's getting easier. When you were around all the time at the campground it was a little tough at first. And then when you threw yourself at me in the cafeteria the first day," Emmett laughed at the memory. "But it's only been a week and it's already getting better."

Had it really only been a week that she'd been in Forks? Bradley couldn't believe it. So much had happened that it felt so much longer but she was already aware of the limited time she had. She was only spending one semester here and it already seemed too short.

"Alice was going to come with us today but she had promised to help Esme with her latest decorating project. I talked to Carlisle about it and he thought I'd be fine with you by myself," Emmett explained.

Bradley smiled at that. "Em, can I ask another question?" she asked.

Emmett chuckled. "OK."

"Do Rose and Jasper hate me?"

Emmett glanced over at her and she wished he wouldn't. He was already driving entirely too fast and she did not like the idea of his eyes not being on the road. "No," he answered but cautiously.

"Your voice is qualifying your statement."

Emmett sighed. "Rose doesn't really know what to make of you," he said. "She knows that I love her but feels a little insecure with yours and my relationship. I know Alice told you about my memory," Emmett added.

Bradley nodded. "Your sister."

"Yeah. I didn't even remember I had one until then. I think she must have been a lot like you. Probably the only reason I like having you around." His voice was teasing but Bradley was all too aware of the truth behind it. After all, Emmett hadn't had a human friend in decades.

"Give Rose some time. I think she likes you because you don't seem to be drawn to us just because we're vampires. You'll grow on her."

"You make me sound like a fungus," Bradley grumbled and Emmett laughed. "What about Jasper?"

"Jasper actually likes you a lot. You are a generally happy person and Jazz can't resist a positive emotional climate."

"Then why does he avoid me?"

"Because your human," he answered simply. "Jasper struggles the most with our vegetarian lifestyle," Emmett laughed a little at the family joke. "So it is toughest for him to be around you. He doesn't want to hurt you because he would feel really bad and Alice and I would be really mad at him if he did." Bradley thought that was strangely sweet.

"Is there anything I can do to make it easier for him?"

"Well, don't challenge him to wrestling matches or curl up next to him on the couch for one," Emmett teased but then his tone got a little more serious. "Don't come over when you've just been out for a run either."

Bradley didn't understand that. She gave Emmett a questioning look and he said, "The days at the campground when you came over as part of your run were really hard for him. Your scent is more potent because your heart is beating faster and pumping your blood harder. At the campground we were outside in the fresh air so he managed but I imagine if you came to the house like that it could be bad."

Bradley shivered and nodded. She made a mental note of it. She didn't want Jasper to be any more uncomfortable around her than necessary. Especially not in his own house.

They made it to Port Angeles in record time because Emmett drove like a bat out of hell. They tooled around a little in the touristy shop area and Bradley grabbed a bite to eat. Emmett just wrinkled his nose at her slice of pizza but otherwise didn't comment about her "people food".

Even after wasting time they still arrived at the gym where the volleyball league played early. They caught the tail end of the game before the one they were coming to see and Bradley settled in to watch. She never took her eyes off the court but wasn't always following the ball.

"What are you watching?" Emmett asked when the ball was on one side of the court but Bradley's eyes were on the other.

"How they move," she answered. "To see how they cover their positions." It didn't take long for her to figure out the role of each person on the court.

The league was definitely competitive which made Bradley happy. The players were all older than her by a minimum of four or five years and she figured most of them had played in college or something. It was a co-ed league which added a different challenge. Some of those guys could really hit the ball!

When the team that Bradley and Emmett had come to see took the court, Bradley scrutinized them carefully. They were good but she could see the gaps in their game. She knew exactly where she would serve the ball if she were opposing them. She spent the game making comments to Emmett about details that most people wouldn't pick up on. Emmett didn't seem to mind though. He was enjoying himself more than he thought he would.

After the game was over, Bradley went to introduce herself to the coach. Coach Clapp had called ahead and he was expecting her. He was excited to meet her and definitely wanted her on his team. They practiced on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evening because most of the people on the team had jobs and/or families. Games were always on Sundays.

Bradley was practically bouncing as she and Emmett left the game. She was so excited to have a team to play with. Emmett just laughed at her giddiness. The only thing Bradley wasn't sure about was how she was going to manage was getting to Port Angeles three times a week but she wasn't about to let that ruin her good mood.

"I'll drive you," Emmett offered when she asked if there was a bus or something that she could take.

Bradley lifted an eyebrow at him. "You'd drive all the way to Port Angeles to bring me to volleyball practice?"

Emmett shrugged. "What else have I got to do?"

Bradley supposed he had a point. After all, when time was meaningless, you could waste as much of it as you wanted. Still, she made a mental note to try to find another means of transportation so Emmett didn't get sick of her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 17**

Bradley's life in Forks was full. Juggling school, volleyball, friends and secrets kept her busy and it was easy for Bradley to forget the one thing she dreaded in Forks while she kept busy. That first Thursday night alone had been awful and Bradley knew she was going to have to pull it together if she was going to survive. She couldn't be a zombie once a week, it just wasn't healthy.

The next Thursday she tried to push the thoughts of being alone in the dark house out of her mind but she wasn't very successful. Throughout the day, different people mentioned her preoccupation. Actually, only three people commented but it felt like more.

The first was Bella. As soon as Bradley sat down next to her in English, Bella noticed that something was wrong. When she asked Bradley about it, Bradley just shrugged and tried to play it off as concern over an upcoming essay they had to write. Bella didn't look like she bought it.

As soon as Bella talked to her she felt Edward in her head. _What did I say about that_? Bradley demanded.

_Sorry_, he answered not sounding the least bit repentant. She knew he now knew why she was so preoccupied and she was a little embarrassed by it. She was pretty sure he learned about her fear of the dark over the summer but it still bothered her. She decided that she shouldn't be too embarrassed though because Edward's thoughts were completely consumed by Bella which was equally pathetic since he refused to man up and do anything about it. She heard Edward growl in her head after that thought passed through her mind.

The second person to comment was Jasper. When she walked into their drama elective, he frowned at her. "What?" she snapped. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why are you so stressed out?" he asked.

"Why are you being so nosy?" she retorted.

Jasper rolled his eyes but she felt a nice calm wash over her. She didn't fight it like she had when the Cullens were telling her that they couldn't be friends with her. She welcomed the peace and enjoyed it while it lasted.

Unfortunately it didn't last long because once they left class she was back to worrying. At lunch Bella questioned her again and Bradley got a little snippy with her. She felt bad but did the girl have to notice everything?

"I'm fine Bella," she said bitingly. "Stop asking me about it."

She heard Edward growl in her head again as Bella's eyes dropped to the table. Bradley sighed. "Sorry, Bells. I've just got a lot on my mind." _And a lot _in_ my mind_, she added sarcastically for Edward's sake. _I've got enough issues of my own, do you mind not adding yours_?

Edward only sighed but she knew what he was thinking. He would have given anything to trade places with Bradley and be the one sitting next to Bella at lunch but he knew that it would be too dangerous. His stress only added to Bradley's. She wondered if this is how he felt all the time, if everyone's stress weighed on him like his did on her.

_I have a greater capacity to cope than you do_, Edward answered wryly. _I'm sorry. I'll try to control better_, he promised.

Bradley sighed again and felt bad for not being able to help Edward more. Bella was still looking at Bradley and Bradley realized that her eyes had drifted toward Edward while they conversed. Bella noticed this too so Bradley tried to act normal but, again, Bella just wasn't buying it.

The last person to comment on her erratic behavior was Emmett. It started in Calculus and continued through Spanish. He just wouldn't let it go. He knew something was wrong and was getting increasingly upset that she wouldn't tell him why. At one point he assumed that it was because someone was bothering her and he shot Kevin a death glare across the Calculus classroom. Kevin glanced over and flinched when he caught sight of Emmett. Bradley kicked Emmett's seat to make him stop. He reluctantly turned back to the lecture.

Bradley didn't want to tell Emmett that she was scared of the dark because she knew he would never let her hear the end of it. He would laugh and then she would just feel even more silly and ridiculous than she already did.

By the time they got to Spanish, Emmett was relentlessly asking what was bugging her. "Right now? You are! You are driving me insane!" she finally yelled at him.

_He's worried about you. You are never upset about anything so he's sure that this is something bad_, Edward explained.

Bradley sighed and figured it was going to be a long night to and from Port Angeles that evening for volleyball practice. It was a good thing Emmett drove so fast.

Luckily for Bradley, Emmett didn't say much on their drive. She figured the few hours between school and practice had given him enough time to move past his obsession over her preoccupation. However, Emmett's unusual silence gave her plenty of time to worry more about the upcoming night. She wanted to ask Emmett if he was alright because he was never so quiet but she didn't want to open that door for him to continue badgering her.

"See you tomorrow," Emmett said with a frown when he pulled up at her house later that night. Bradley couldn't respond so she just nodded weakly and got out of the car. She ran to the front door, scared that she would freeze up and not be able to move if she took too long. She quickly unlocked the door and then slammed it behind her, locking it again.

She turned on every light as she walked through rooms and tried to trick herself like she had the week before. She kept herself awake as long as she could but about halfway through one of the late night talk shows she could feel her eyes closing on her. She briefly considered just letting herself sleep on the couch but she didn't want to answer Elaine's questions when she got home in the early morning. Reluctantly, she turned off the TV and the lights and checked the locks again before going upstairs.

She slowly went into her room and walked over to the window to pull the curtains shut so she could change and try to sleep. She did a double take when she got the window because someone was out there. As she stared out the window there was a ghostly figure staring back. Bradley's eyes went wide with fear as she turned to run away.

Before she could get any real volume on the scream building in her throat an ice cold hand clamped over her mouth. Bradley struggled and fought to get out of the grasp of whoever was attacking her but to no avail.

She continued to struggle, determined not to go down without a fight. Suddenly, she realized that her attacker was talking to her. "Bradley! Stop it! It's me! Brad! Stop!" he was saying over and over. She finally recognized the voice and stopped resisting. He released her once he was sure she wouldn't scream and alarm the neighbors.

"Dammit, Emmett!" she practically yelled as soon as he let go of her mouth.

"Ssssshhh!" he hissed. "The neighbors are going to call the cops if you yell like that!"

"How the hell did you get in here? And what are you doing here anyway?"

"I came in through the window. It was unlocked," Emmett said as if the answer were obvious.

"How did you get in here so fast? And how were you hovering outside my window like that? Don't tell me you can fly?"

Emmett snorted at that. "There's a ledge right outside," he answered, very amused. "And I'm very quick," he added smugly.

Bradley rolled her eyes. She was glad to have Emmett back to his normal wise guy self but she her heart was still racing so she couldn't fully appreciate it.

"You didn't answer my question," she reminded him.

"You ask a million questions. Even I don't have the time to get to all of them and I've got all the time in the world," he teased. It was true that Bradley asked a lot of questions when she was with the Cullens. She was very curious about the vampires and so she sought out answers. Emmett had been threatening to give her a question limit.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again slowly, emphasizing each word.

Emmett looked a little uncomfortable. "I wanted to make sure you were ok," he answered almost shyly.

Bradley narrowed her eyes at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Emmett shrugged. "You were upset all day."

Bradley knew that wasn't the whole truth. Emmett may have been concerned but no way did he come over just to see if she was ok. Especially not at this late hour. He would have assumed she'd be sleeping.

"Try again."

Emmett sighed. "Edward told me why you were upset," he admitted.

Bradley blushed and fumed, "Stupid, nosy, mind reading vampire!"

Emmett laughed at that but then his face turned serious again. "Why didn't you tell me?" He sounded hurt.

Bradley looked at the floor, still blushing. "Tell you that I'm scared of the dark? Why? So you could torment me for the rest of my life?"

"Why would I torment you?" Emmett sounded angry at that.

"Emmett! You make fun of me for everything! And being scared of the dark as if I were still six years old? Please! Don't even try to tell me you aren't thinking of a million cracks."

Emmett thought for a second. "Ok. You've got a point. And I'm sure I'll come up with a few cracks later," he admitted. "But it isn't such a ridiculous fear, you know."

Bradley looked up at him, questioningly.

"Well, after what you know is true about the supernatural world, it kind of makes sense to be scared of what could be out there," he shrugged.

She groaned. "Not helping, Em."

He chuckled. "Sorry. How about I stay here so you don't have to be alone? Would that make you less scared?"

Bradley hesitated. It would, in fact, make her less scared. But she couldn't very well have a boy in her room when Elaine got home even if there was absolutely no way that any funny business would be happening.

"Emmett, you can't sleep here. Elaine would freak."

Emmett scoffed. "First of all, Elaine would never know I'm here. I'll leave before she gets home."

"How will you know when she's coming?"

Emmett looked at her as if she were slow. "I have a future predicting sister," he reminded her.

"Right. But still, where would you sleep?" She couldn't see Emmett being very comfortable on the couch downstairs.

"Which brings me to second of all. We don't sleep," Emmett used his vampires-are-so-superior tone.

This knowledge caused Bradley's jaw to drop. "You don't sleep? At all?"

"Nope," he said smugly.

"So what do you do all night?"

Emmett laughed. "We do different things to pass the time. I'll tell you about it later. You actually do need to sleep and you look like crap."

"Thanks," she stuck her tongue out at him. But he was right, she was beat.

"Can I ask you one question before I let you sleep though?" Emmett asked. He sounded shy again and that made Bradley curious.

"Ok," she said hesitantly.

"What's a 'safe person'?"

Bradley blushed knowing that Edward had pulled that out of her head the day she fell asleep on their couch. She shrugged and tried to play it off like it was nothing. "It's just someone who makes me feel safe," she answered.

Emmett nodded slowly. "Like your father," he said.

"Exactly," Bradley answered.

"And me," he said watching her for a reaction.

Bradley's blush deepened. "I'm going to kill Edward," she muttered.

Emmett chuckled at that but asked, "Why me?"

Bradley thought about this. She really didn't know. There was just something safe about Emmett. She felt protected and cared for when he was with her. "I'm not sure exactly. Maybe it's kind of like how I remind you of your sister. You are what I would imagine my big brother to be like, if I had one. And my big brother would never let anything bad happen to me," she answered.

Emmett seemed very pleased by that answer. "I won't let anything eat you tonight, Brad," he assured and teased all in one.

"Thanks, Em," Bradley said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Emmett left her room and went downstairs. She heard the TV turn on as she got ready to sleep. She fell asleep quickly knowing that Emmett was there and that she was probably the safest she'd ever been in her life.


	19. Chapter 19

_First, I want to thank abbyweyr for faithfully reviewing my story...you have no idea how much I appreciate it!_

_Second, to answer a suggestion given by ScRaBbLe1, Edward will still end up with Bella, sorry. I do have other plans for Bradley's love life though :)_

_BTW, what is the fanfic protocol for answering questions and stuff? Just do it in the author's note in the beginning or what? Sorry if I've committed some sort of fanfic faux pas but I'm new at this..._

_As always, I'd love to hear what you think!_

**Chapter 18**

The next morning Bradley woke with her alarm after sleeping hard the whole night. She didn't hear Elaine scream at the sight of a giant vampire in her living room when she came in so Bradley assumed Emmett got out ok.

When she saw Edward in History that day she gave him a little glare. _Ok, first, thank you for sending Emmett over last night. I appreciate it. That being said, you cannot go taking things out of my head and telling the world_!

Edward chuckled. _I didn't tell the world. Emmett was very worried about you so I told him what was on your mind. I apologize. You're right that I probably shouldn't have told him. I didn't send him over though. That was all him_.

_Emmett came over on his own_? Bradley couldn't believe it. _He's not that sensitive_.

Edward laughed again. _He can be when he tries. Don't get too attached to sensitive Emmett though_.

_What's that mean_?

_You'll see_, Edward smirked and then proceeded to block Bradley out for the rest of the period.

Sure enough, when Bradley got to gym the next period Emmett gave her the look he used when he was about to say something obnoxious.

"Sorry, Brad, but I can't stay over anymore," he said to quietly so no one else could hear. He didn't sound the least bit sorry.

Bradley felt a little pang of rejection but said, "It's ok. I understand."

"I mean, seriously. I've never been so bored in my entire life. And I've been alive for a really long time."

"Ok, Emmett," Bradley said, getting a little annoyed. Did he have to rub it in?

"First of all, no one would come over to play with me. Not Jasper or Rose or Alice or-"

"I get it, Emmett."

"And then Elaine has only basic cable. What is that all about?"

"Emmett! Fine. I'm on my own. I got it." Bradley spoke each word sharply. Why was he being such a jerk?

Emmett just gave her a look that said she was being dumb. "I'm not going to leave you alone. Sheesh, what kind of safe person do you think I am?"

Bradley fought the urge to give him a kick in the shin. "What are you talking about then?"

He just smirked at her. "I'll take care of it."

Bradley didn't know what that meant but she decided not to prolong the conversation. She knew she'd never get a straight answer out of him anyway.

She didn't figure out what he meant until two days later when Elaine came back from grocery shopping and said, "I ran into Esme Cullen at the grocery store today."

Bradley had to bite her tongue to not ask why Esme would be at the grocery store when the Cullens didn't eat. She instead said, "Oh?"

"Yeah. She's really nice. We were talking about how you and her kids were in the same math group and that you seemed to get along really well."

"Yeah, the Cullens are great. And good at math so that's a plus," Bradley smiled to herself.

"Well, we got to talking about how I've got to work on Thursday nights and that you are home alone. She didn't like that idea and I never did either but I wasn't sure what to do about it. Well, Esme offered to have you stay with them on Thursday nights if you want. Unless you like the alone time," she added hesitantly when Bradley's jaw almost hit the floor.

"No, no! I'd love to stay at the Cullens!" she said quickly. She wanted to kiss Emmett in that moment. She no longer had to dread Thursdays and she couldn't be happier.

In the end it was decided that she would go straight to the Cullens after volleyball practice (Elaine was under the impression that Bradley was taking a bus to volleyball), sleep there and then come home in the morning to get ready for school. She would still ride with Kevin on Friday mornings like she did every other day because the Cullens' car was already full. It was a perfect set up for all involved.

Bradley really started to settle into life in Forks in the following weeks. She had chatted with just about everyone in the school and by the end of her second week she could greet most kids in school by name, even the freshman, who usually seemed flattered that an upperclassman took notice of them.

Her "usual" group were the kids she sat with her first day at school but she sat with a different table at lunch every couple of days or so. As predicted, the other students stopped thinking it was strange that she bounced from table to table or even when she spoke to the Cullens in school. Only Bella seemed to watch her warily when she walked out of Spanish with Edward and Emmett.

In her out of school hours Bradley kept busy. She sometimes was at the Cullens' hanging out with them, fighting with Emmett, playing Edward's piano, or avoiding Alice's shopping plans. The Cullens had every manner of entertainment at their house so it was impossible to get bored (although Emmett complained enough about being bored). She and Emmett had played ping pong (Emmett won), foosball (Emmett won), table hockey (Emmett won), pool (Emmett won but Bradley managed to get a few good shots in) and various card and board games (those Bradley had a chance at). On particularly rainy days they watched any number of movies that the Cullens had acquired since the making of home entertainment systems.

Emmett had also taken it upon himself to coach Bradley in volleyball. He set up a net in the backyard and would make Bradley work for hours on her serve. He would call out every small mistake she made like if she gave away where she was aiming with her eyes (although she tried to tell him that if she didn't look where she was serving who knew where the ball would end up) or if he felt she wasn't trying hard enough. Bradley would get really frustrated with him but she had to admit he was helping. His eyes were much faster than a human coach so he saw each and every flaw and he did not hesitate to point them out. Whenever she complained that her arm hurt he would take over serving and have her diving everywhere to keep the ball in play. He toned it down as best he could but he still served faster and harder than any human possibly could. If Bradley got under one in every ten serves it was a good afternoon. She always came out of these sessions exhausted and dirty from being on the ground so much but satisfied with her days' work.

Emmett drove her to volleyball practice but he didn't usually go in with her. Bradley was glad for that. She doubted he could have kept himself from yelling at her and giving her pointers during her practice. She didn't think her coach would appreciate that. Various Cullens showed up at her games on Sundays and Bradley felt really loved by them for that. Even Jasper and Rosalie came occasionally. It was nice that they came to support her and it kept her from missing her own family who would have been at every game if it hadn't meant a 5 hour flight to and from Washington.

On the days she wasn't with the Cullens, Bradley would sometimes play ball with Kevin and his friends (although she tried not to do that too often because both Kevin and Connor were becoming increasingly difficult to deal with) but usually she would go for runs around Forks. On one of these runs Bradley ran across Bella who apparently lived a couple streets over from Bradley. This wasn't surprising because pretty much the whole town lived within a couple of streets of Bradley.

"Bella!" Bradley exclaimed seeing Bella unload grocery bags from the back of her truck. "Need some help?"

Bella looked up, a little surprised to see Bradley. "Hey, Brad," she grinned. "Sure. Thanks!"

Bradley helped Bella bring the groceries into the house. It was small, much like Elaine's in layout and definitely showed the signs of being a bachelor's house for most of the last 17 years or so. It looked like things hadn't been updated in at least that long.

Bradley knew that Bella lived with her father who was Forks' police chief and one of Elaine's bosses. She wasn't really sure why she had come to live in Forks in the first place, though, so she decided to ask.

"Hey, Bella. Why'd you leave Phoenix?" Bradley asked.

Bella sighed. "My mom's new husband travels a lot so this is just easier," she shrugged. Bradley could tell that it bothered her more than she was letting on but didn't want to pry so she changed the subject.

"How are you holding up with all the rain?" Bradley asked. Sometimes the fact that it was always gray out really bugged her. She really missed the sun of southern California but she appreciated the cloud cover for the Cullens sake. They couldn't come out in the sun.

Bradley remembered last summer when she was sitting with Emmett at the campground and the sun shifted just right through the trees overhead and glinted off of his hand.

"Whoa!" Bradley had exclaimed. "What's that all about?" She stared at his hand throwing rainbows in the sun.

"That," Emmett said, pulling his hand out of the shaft of light, "is why vampires don't go in the sun."

"So it doesn't burn you?" Bradley asked, still in shock. That's what the movies said.

Emmett scoffed and Bradley heard the other Cullens around the camp site chuckle. "No. But we obviously can't go out in the sun."

Bradley giggled and said in a cutesy voice, "Emmett, your sparkly!"

Bradley heard the other Cullens laughing harder at this point while Emmett scowled and grumbled, "Shut up."

Bella grimaced, bringing Bradley back to the present. "I don't understand how it can possibly rain this much!" she lamented.

Bradley giggled. "Seriously! I don't know that I've seen sun once since I've been here! I miss it," Bradley ended with a sigh.

"So," Bella looked at her curiously. "Why'd you come to Forks? I mean, your parents are still in Cali."

"Yeah they are," Bradley sighed again. "I just needed a change. So I decided to try something completely different from what I was used to." Bradley figured she should stick as close to the truth as possible. She wasn't great at pretending things which was probably why she also wasn't great at silent conversations with Edward. Her face gave away what she was thinking every time.

Bella frowned as she thought that over. "Do you get along with your family?" Bella asked tentatively, as if she were worried she'd offend Bradley.

"I do," Bradley grinned. "They are awesome. My parents are great and super supportive and I have a little brother that I am molding in my own image."

Bella laughed sounding relieved that she hadn't upset Bradley. "So why the change? It sounds like things were pretty good," she pressed.

Bradley sighed and answered cautiously. "I had an intense time last summer. Going back to my normal life seemed...I don't know, almost painful?" Bradley realized that her comment would sound odd so she added, "Maybe the month in China for the Olympics had a bigger impact on me that I would have imagined. You know, experiencing new cultures and all."

"You met the Cullens last summer too, didn't you?" Bella asked. It sounded like she was forcing nonchalance.

Bradley felt the blood drain from her face. She tried to keep her voice even as she answered, "I did but that was early in the summer." She knew that reason made no sense but Bella didn't push it any further and Bradley was relieved.

Bradley made a mental note to be very careful around Bella. Bella may not be talking about what she saw Edward do on the day of the accident but she definitely had her suspicions that he was not normal. Bradley was not about to compromise what the Cullens had worked hard to cultivate by letting something slip out of her big mouth.

From that day on Bradley would occasionally stop by Bella's house to hang out after school or on the weekend. Bradley really liked hanging out with Bella. They had similar senses of humor and sarcasm and the same love for the sun and warm weather but they were different enough from each other that they didn't bore one another. Besides, Bradley didn't want to avoid Bella, like Edward had decided to do, because she thought that looked even more suspicious, especially since Bradley hung out with almost everyone in the school indiscriminately. She did, however, do her best to avoid all topics that could possibly lead back to the Cullens but occasionally Bella caught her off guard.

"He has got the nicest eyes!" Bradley exclaimed one afternoon while she and Bella were lounging around Bella's living room working on homework. They were watching a local news station and the sportscaster was on. "He's so dreamy," Bradley added with a giggle.

Bella laughed at her and rolled her eyes. She was quiet for a moment and then asked, "Have you ever noticed that Edward Cullen's eyes change color?"

Bradley almost choked on the pretzel she had just put in her mouth. Of course she noticed that his eyes, all of the Cullens' eyes, actually, changed color. The darker their eyes were, the thirstier they were. Bradley knew to give Jasper a wide berth when his eyes were pushing toward black.

Once Bradley got over the resulting coughing fit she tried to sound casual as she said, "Maybe he's just one of those people whose eyes change with his mood?" Her voice broke and she really hoped Bella would chalk it up to her choking episode but she doubted it.

Bella threw her a suspicious look but otherwise let it go.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 19**

The Bella issue was difficult for Bradley. She really liked Bella but Edward was determined to keep away from her and her away from the Cullens. This meant that Bradley was constantly having to check what she said. Bradley couldn't say anything about the Cullens in front of Bella because there was no such thing as a casual reference to the Cullens in Forks. Bradley was the only student they generally spoke to and everyone chalked that up to Bradley's personality rather than to any sort of openness on the part of them. If Bradley mentioned anything about any one of them it led to a million questions.

Bella was the worst of all though. She didn't ask as many questions as nosy Jessica did but her questions were more insightful. Like the thing with the eyes. She also seemed to be the only one suspicious of the Cullens friendliness with Bradley.

"Why do you suppose the Cullens talk to you and no one else?" Bella asked one afternoon while she and Bradley were hanging out. Bradley had slipped and said something about Emmett in gym class.

Bradley shrugged and tried to keep her voice even. "Because I talked to them first?" she asked.

"I'm sure other people have tried to talk to them."

"Well, they were new a couple of years ago. Maybe people just avoided them then and a pattern formed. A new family with five teenagers is a little intimidating," Bradley offered.

Bella frowned. "I don't think everyone ignored them from the beginning. I mean, look at the reception we got when we moved here," she pointed out. "Not a whole lot happens around here so getting a new family with five kids would bring everyone out of the woodwork with a million questions. I think their isolation is intentional."

"Hmm," Bradley pretended to consider this. She couldn't think of anything to say to this so she settled for shrugging again.

"So why do you think they talk to you?" Bella asked again.

"Because I'm annoyingly persistent?" Bradley tried to keep her tone joking. She was actually thinking that Bella was annoyingly persistent.

Bella gave her the look that told Bradley she wasn't buying in but said nothing. This was the general pattern. Bella would ask a question that would ultimately force Bradley into a corner and then when Bradley gave a lame answer, Bella would drop it. Bradley got the distinct impression that Bella wasn't just letting it go though. It was like she was tucking the information away to be accessed later.

Bradley tried to talk to Edward about this one night but it didn't go well. It was a Thursday and Bradley had just gotten back from volleyball practice. She didn't really know how to bring the subject up with Edward and while she tried to think of a way to start, Edward turned and glared at her.

"No, Bradley," he said sternly.

"I haven't even said anything yet," Bradley pouted. "No fair shooting me down before I even say anything."

"I know what you're thinking and the answer is no."

"Edward, I think you are being completely unreasonable. She's really nice! I know you know that because you've been following her around in everyone's heads and gathering as much information as you can about her. She's all you think about and I'm starting to think that you are all she thinks about too. It is stupid for you to continue to ignore her!" Once Bradley started she couldn't stop. She didn't mean to let all that spill out.

Edward set his jaw. "It is not safe," he said, enunciating every word. Bradley saw Alice's dual vision of Bella's dead body in Edward's arms or Bella as a vampire in her head. She knew that neither of these futures were what Edward wanted for Bella.

"It doesn't have to be that way. Alice said herself that her visions aren't perfect," Bradley offered. Alice threw her an annoyed look and Bradley gave her an apologetic one in return. "I just mean that they are dependent on the decisions that people make."

"And it will not be my decision that damns her for eternity!" Edward exclaimed.

"Did you ever stop to consider that it isn't only your decision?" Alice asked.

Edward glared at her and a low growl was forming in his chest. Before Bradley could ask what Alice meant she saw Alice's other vision: Bella and Alice as friends. Bradley flinched as she felt Edward's ire rising in her head.

"You will stay away from her, Alice!" he yelled.

Alice narrowed her eyes at him. "You are being selfish, Edward," she said evenly. "Bella and I will be very good friends and you are keeping that from both of us."

"You'll really like her, Alice! Bella is fun and smart and really great!" Bradley couldn't stop herself from saying. Alice gave Edward an I-told-you-so look and Edward glared at both her and Bradley. Alice wasn't phased by the glare but Bradley shrunk back a little. Alice had the benefit of not hearing the mental barrage that went with the glare though. The conversation ended with Edward storming out of the house.

Bradley was still feeling bad about the argument with Edward when she went to bed that night. She hadn't meant to make him upset or to drag Alice into the fight. She just wanted Edward to give Bella a chance. Something told Bradley that Bella wouldn't freak out about the big secret when she found out. And Bradley was very sure that she would find out. Bella was far too observant to not.

Bradley climbed into the bed in the room that Esme had set up for her. The room was on the top floor of the house down the hall from Edward's room. Esme picked a room that overlooked the front of the house so that the light coming in the glass wall in the back wouldn't wake her up in the morning and she picked the top floor because she said the boys could be loud in their nighttime activities (like wrestling).

The room was much bigger than the one Bradley had at Elaine's or even the one she had at home. There was a huge king sized bed that was easily the most comfortable piece of furniture that she had ever experienced. There was also a desk with a chair, a loveseat, a dresser, a bedside table and her own bathroom. Bradley had tried to tell Esme that it was all too much but Esme just waved her off saying that she wanted Bradley to feel at home.

As Bradley climbed into her bed she tried to figure out how to smooth things over with Edward. She heard a light knock on her door and she knew right away it was him. He was trying to keep his thoughts neutral but Bradley could tell he wasn't liking the argument they had either.

"Come on in, Edward," Bradley said.

Edward opened the door, came in and sat on the corner of Bradley's bed. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I am not trying to take any of this out on you."

Bradley sighed. "I know. I'm sorry too. I should mind my own business."

"Well, in your defense I did snap at you before you actually voiced your thoughts."

"True," Bradley agreed and Edward chuckled. "But I would have voiced them anyway."

"I know," Edward grimaced.

"Edward, I know it is killing you to stay away from her. I know you're terrified of hurting her but I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit."

"I can't take that chance," he practically whispered.

"You aren't being fair," Bradley continued. Before Edward could protest she added, "Not just to Alice or me but you aren't being fair to yourself. You are insanely jealous of Mike Newton, of Tyler, even Eric! Whenever one of them thinks about Bella or looks at her you imagine snapping him in two!"

Edward's eyes widened at that. "You aren't as good at blocking me as you think," Bradley told him. "I'm not sure why I can hear those thoughts when you aren't speaking directly to me but I do have a theory."

"What's that?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, I think when your emotions are high and there are things that you really want to say out loud, I can hear them. Kind of like you _are_ saying them out loud. It's the same as when you direct your thoughts right at me. You want me to hear it and these other thoughts you wish you could get out there. In other words, you kind of want them heard."

"Great," Edward said sarcastically.

Bradley grinned at him. "Welcome to everyone else's world with you around."

Edward just scowled at her in response.

Bradley sighed and got back to the Bella issue. "Edward, you know how I feel about this and I know how you feel. But Bella is going to figure this out so you really ought to be prepared."

Bradley could hear Edward controlling his emotions before he spoke. She wasn't sure why he bothered when she knew he was fighting anger, anxiety, hope and a million other things. He struggled most with the hope. Some part of him wanted Bella to figure it out and then he got angry at himself for wanting to drag her into his world. His emotions were driving him crazy and Bradley wasn't faring much better with them. She was getting a bit of a headache.

"She can't figure it out," he said more to himself than to Bradley.

Bradley sighed again. "I'm not going to say anything to her. But you need to know that she reads between the lines very well. She knows something is up and I think she knows that I know more than I'm letting on." Edward grimaced again at the conversations Bradley was replaying in her mind. Bella really did pick more out of simple words than most people would have. "I'm sorry."

Edward just shook his head and left the room.


	21. Chapter 21

_First, thanks, as always, for your reviews, alerts, favorites, etc. I love opening my inbox and seeing that stuff! Second, I don't know how this chapter got so long...it's all fluff really...ah well. In another chapter or two we'll be picking back up with the book (yay!) and getting back on track. _

_Please! Let me know what you think!_

**Chapter 20**

Bradley didn't exactly set out to avoid Bella but she was so nervous about letting something slip that she sort of started to. She still hung out with Bella in school and at lunch but never one on one. It seemed safer to be with Bella when others were around. Bella seemed less inclined to ask Cullen related questions when there were other ears that would hear.

Bradley stopped going over to Bella's after school. She felt bad and she missed her friend but she didn't know what else to do. She did not want to be the one that let out the one obscure piece of information that would tip Bella off. Bradley knew Bella was cataloging facts about Edward the same way he was about her. Bradley seemed to be the only source of information about the Cullens in Forks and she was determined to keep their secret.

If Bella noticed Bradley's absence she didn't say anything. Bradley really hoped she didn't since they still chatted and hung out at school but Bradley didn't hold much hope for it. Bella noticed everything.

The good news was, spring was apparently coming. Bradley certainly didn't notice much change in the weather. It was still gray, rainy and cold to her but the locals insisted that it was getting warmer. Mike Newton started to get excited about a beach trip that he was planning. He said they would all go the first nice weekend which he confidently said would be soon. Bradley assured him that she would go but she wasn't sure it was ever really going to happen if they actually waited for a nice weekend.

Near the end of February, on a particularly disgusting day in Forks, Bradley slumped into her science class. She hung her dripping rain coat on a hook and scowled at it. Was a little sun too much to ask for? She hadn't seen it in weeks and it was starting to get to her. She dragged herself over to her seat and plopped down next to Alice.

Alice raised an eyebrow at her. "Something the matter, Bradley?"

Bradley gave her the look one gives when she has been asked an obvious question. Then something occurred to Bradley and she perked up a bit. "Hey, Alice," she whispered. "Can you predict the weather?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Of course I can. The weather is easier than people. It rarely changes its mind."

Bradley suppressed a snicker. "When will I see the sun again?"

Alice sighed. "I feel like I should have a Magic 8 ball or something," she grumbled but she got that daydreamy look on her face for a second. "Soon," she assured Bradley. "Not this weekend, but next."

"Yessss!" Bradley said a little too loud and caught a few looks from the other kids in the room. Alice gave her a dirty look. "Sorry," she whispered. "And for the record, you can only ask a Magic 8 ball yes or no questions," she added as the teacher began his lecture. Alice's dirty look turned into a glare.

Alice had apparently forgiven Bradley by the end of class because as they were packing up to leave she said, "You know, Brad, we need to get you ready for the warmer weather."

"What does that mean?" Bradley was scared to know.

"I'll pick you up after school," was Alice's only answer before she flitted out of the room.

Bradley was sure she did not want to do whatever Alice was planning. Alice hadn't let up on Bradley's fashion, or lack thereof, since bringing it up a few weeks earlier. Bradley had managed to avoid Alice's shopping plans because of volleyball or homework or whatever other excuse she could muster up. She was sure that she was going to be stuck this time. Alice seemed determined.

Kevin noticed the change in Bradley's usual upbeat demeanor on the ride home from school. "What's up?" he asked. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah," Bradley sighed. "It's just the rain." That seemed like a safe enough excuse. It had been the reason for her feeling down earlier in the day so it was true enough.

Kevin chuckled. "Today is particularly dreary. But spring is coming," he promised brightly.

Bradley snorted a little. "So they tell me." Of course now she had Alice's assurance and that seemed a little more promising.

Kevin laughed again. "The sun will shine again, I promise," he joked in a voice of wisdom as he pulled up to Elaine's house. "Hey, some of the guys are coming over to play video games this afternoon. Wanna join?" he asked hopefully.

Bradley smiled sadly at him. She would have much rather played games with him and his buddies than do whatever torture Alice had planned, even at the risk of leading Kevin on. "I can't," she said. "I've got a..." Bradley struggled to find the right words. She settled for "project to work on."

"Oh, ok. Another time then," Kevin answered sadly but he seemed to take some solace in her obviously mournful tone.

Not five minutes after Bradley got in the house, Alice arrived and practically dragged Bradley back out into the rain. Once in the car, Bradley grumbled, "Alice, are we really going shopping today?"

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous," Alice answered. Bradley wasn't sure why this was ridiculous but she relaxed instantly. "The closest decent shopping is in Seattle and we don't have enough time for that today."

That both frightened and relieved Bradley. She was glad that she didn't have to shop today but Alice drove as fast as Emmett did so they would get to Seattle in record time, hours before the malls and stores closed. How long did Alice need for shopping?

"Today is just a planning day," Alice continued.

"Planning? What does that mean?"

"We need to have a plan of action before we go, Bradley," Alice said impatiently. "So today we plan and Saturday we shop."

Bradley quickly racked her brain for an appropriate excuse to get out of shopping and actually thought of one. "I can't shop this Saturday!" she exclaimed sounding a tad bit triumphant. "We have a weekender!" No one had ever been so excited about a Calculus test than Bradley was right then.

"You'll be doing that on Friday afternoon and then spending the night so we can leave first thing in the morning," Alice responded confidently. Of course she had seen this coming and already had an answer ready. Bradley slouched back in the seat and pouted for the rest of the ride to the Cullens' house.

"Now, Bradley," Alice warned as they walked into the house. "This doesn't have to be painful. You can cooperate with me and enjoy yourself or you can pout and be miserable."

"I don't think miserable is avoidable," Bradley muttered under her breath which only earned her her second glare for the day from Alice.

Alice led Bradley over to the computer that she was often working on. Alice sat down and opened some fashion program and a generic figure of a woman popped up. Alice spent the next 15 minutes entering information about Bradley's physical appearance. She picked her skin and hair color from a color pallet and then proceeded to ask Bradley dozens of questions about her height, weight, and sizes. Most of the information was easy enough for Bradley to give but a few times Alice looked at her like she didn't trust what Bradley was saying.

It got a little dicey when Alice asked Bradley for her bra size. Bradley blushed because she knew that Emmett and Jasper with both right around the corner in the living room and even though she couldn't seem him, Bradley knew Emmett was getting a kick out of her torment. She did not want to discuss bra sizes with Emmett listening.

Also, Bradley didn't really know what size bra she wore. She always wore a sports bra because while she was tall and lean like her father, she had definitely inherited her mother's well endowed chest. The sports bra kept everything contained and made Bradley a little more comfortable.

Bradley just shrugged at Alice's question. "What do you mean you don't know?" Alice demanded.

"I don't know, Alice. I've never really checked," Bradley answered impatiently and as quietly as she could.

"Well, what are you wearing right now?"

"A sports bra."

"Why? You aren't playing any sports."

"It's all I have."

Alice closed her eyes and took deep breaths as if Bradley had just told her someone had just run over her dog. "Rose, I need you," Alice said as she grabbed Bradley's wrist and dragged her upstairs.

Alice brought Bradley to her bedroom and began searching through drawers. Rosalie entered the room looking a little amused. "Can you bring me a couple of different bras?" Alice asked Rosalie without looking at her.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and left, returning a moment later with an armload of lingerie. Bradley could not believe this was happening. Alice finally found what she was searching for, a sewing tape measure.

"Thanks, Rose," she said and then turned to Bradley. "What are you wearing under that?" she asked indicating Bradley's hoodie.

"A tank top," Bradley answered hesitantly.

"Perfect. Lose the hoodie," Alice commanded.

Bradley did as she was told. "Ok, arms up," Alice told her. She began measuring various parts of Bradley's chest, waist and hips. "You're wearing the wrong size jeans, you know. Actually, you're wearing pretty much the wrong size in everything." Alice sighed. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Bradley sighed. This was going to get ugly.

"Go put this on," Alice directed her, picking a bra from the pile that Rosalie brought in.

"Alice, this is ridiculous! I-"

"GO!" Alice glared yet again at Bradley and Bradley slinked off to the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom.

"Rose and I are not the same size, you know," Bradley muttered as she changed.

Bradley put the bra on and then looked at herself in the mirror. Evidently, she and Rose were the same size. She was embarrassed by how much more pronounced her chest was in this bra versus the sports bra. She could hear Alice sighing impatiently in the bedroom so she took a deep breath and went out to face the music.

"That is so much better!" Alice exclaimed. Bradley fought the urge to fold her arms across her chest. "Bradley, this is how shirts are supposed to fit." She pointed to how the tank top now hugged closely at Bradley's curves and then pointed to Rosalie's snug fitting top.

"But my chest looks huge!" Bradley cried.

"It kind of is," Alice said as Bradley scowled. "You are easily a full C-cup and you're only 16 so..." she let her voice trail off.

Bradley's jaw about hit the floor. "Oh relax, Bradley," Alice sighed impatiently again. "A cup size just indicates the difference between the band and the fullest part of your-"

"I get it, Alice!" Bradley cut her off.

"I'm just saying, it's not like a cup size is going to lock you into being a stripper or something."

Just when Bradley thought she couldn't get more horrified. "I can't go out in public like this! People will think I got plastic surgery or something!"

"The boys will love it," Rosalie teased. "You always play the part of 'one of the guys'. It's good to keep them on their toes and remind them every now and then that you are a woman."

"I think I prefer 'one of the guys,'" Bradley muttered.

Alice smirked. "You can still be one of the guys and kick their butts in sports and stuff. And now you are going to knock them on their butts another way too."

Alice and Rosalie both laughed as Bradley blushed a deep red.

They went back downstairs to the computer and finished entering in Bradley's information. They then spent the next three hours going over colors and styles and things that Bradley didn't even understand. Alice was trying out different things on the computer generated Bradley and was saying things about cuts and fabrics and it all sounded like Greek to Bradley.

Bradley was exhausted by the time she got home that evening. Elaine took one look at her and raised an eyebrow. "It looks like you've been through a war zone," she commented.

"Feels like it too," Bradley grumbled.

"What were you up to this afternoon?" Elaine asked, eyebrow still raised.

"Planning," Bradley spat out bitterly. Elaine's eyebrow still hadn't come down so Bradley explained. "Alice is taking me shopping. She thinks my clothes suck."

Elaine chuckled. "And that requires planning?"

"Apparently. And she's not even finished! She's coming over here tomorrow to go through my things. I think she's going to throw everything away!" Bradley cried with real concern.

Elaine threw her head back and laughed. "Good thing she's taking you shopping then, otherwise you'd be running around causing a scene!"

"It's not funny!" Bradley whined. "She's making me sleep over on Friday night so we can leave early on Saturday and 'have enough time,'" Bradley used her fingers to make air quotes. "How much time does she need? Do you think she'd believe me if I said I was allergic to shopping?"

Elaine just smiled and shook her head. "I doubt it."

"Maybe you could say I'm not allowed?" Bradley asked hopefully.

Elaine chuckled again. "I think you'd have better luck with the allergy line." That was true. Elaine didn't really prohibit Bradley from doing anything but that was because Bradley hadn't tried to push her limits. Living with Elaine was kind of like living with your supercool aunt, she let you get away with more than your parents would but she still cared enough to set boundaries.

Bradley sighed in defeat. There was no getting out of this.


	22. Chapter 22

_I love that you guys appreciated Bradley's horror and embarrassment over the bra situation. It is actually loosely based on a conversation I had with my sister a while back...she informed me I was in D-cup denial. Awesome. Gotta love sisters._

_This chapter might have gotten away from me a little. Only a couple more chapters until we get back to the familiar story line. i'm feeling a little anxious to get there but there are a few things that need to happen._

_As always, let me know what you think!_

**Chapter 21**

The next afternoon Alice packed up more than half of Bradley's clothes and said she was bringing them straight to the donation box. She deemed most of the clothes she allowed Bradley to keep as unwearable in public. She said they were only for running, volleyball, sleeping and maybe lounging around the house if no one else was home.

"Alice! You've left me with like 3 tank tops and no pants! How am I supposed to go to school the rest of this week?" Bradley whined.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "First of all, you are totally exaggerating. I let you keep a couple of your hoodies, against my better judgement. Besides, tomorrow is Friday so there is only one day left of school this week. I'm sure Rose has something you can borrow. You'll be sleeping over tonight so we can even get your dressed before you come back here to meet Kevin."

Bradley panicked. "I'm too tall for Rose's clothes!" She was only a couple of inches taller than Rosalie so this was definitely grasping at straws but Alice took some pity on her.

"Fine, Bradley. You can salvage one outfit for tomorrow. But enjoy it because after Saturday, it's done."

"I need something to wear on Saturday too," Bradley reminded her.

Alice closed her eyes as if Bradley were completely trying her patience. "Find what you need," she said through clenched teeth.

"I know you think these jeans are too big," Bradley said pulling a pair from the donation bound box, "but with the way Esme feeds me, I'm sure to put on some weight."

Alice shook her head. "Nice try. With the way Emmett runs you ragged with his volleyball drills there is no way that is going to happen."

Bradley sighed and said a silent goodbye to her wardrobe.

The next school day flew by and Bradley couldn't help but wonder why time always flies when you are dreading something. Emmett swung by after school and picked Bradley up so that they could work on their Calculus weekender and she could spend the night.

It took very little time for Bradley, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper to finish their test. Bradley refused to talk about anything fashion related before the shopping trip because she didn't want to spoil another afternoon. Instead she and Emmett argued about what they would do to pass the time before Bradley had to sleep.

"Let's go work on your serve," Emmett declared after the test was deemed complete.

"Emmett, it is pouring outside. I won't be able to see anything and I'll probably fall and break my leg on the wet grass," Bradley complained.

Emmett heaved a big sigh. "We could watch a movie," he suggested but without enthusiasm.

Bradley shrugged. "What do you want to watch?" she asked.

Emmett began scanning through the vast number of DVDs. He made a bunch of suggestions but they were all horror films which Bradley had no intention of watching.

"Why do you keep shooting down everything I say?" Emmett demanded.

"Because you keep picking crap movies!" Bradley snapped back. "I'm not watching a stupid scary movie, Emmett. I'll never fall asleep again!"

Emmett sighed again. "Let's go see what else we can find," he pouted.

He led the way out to the garage where Rosalie was working on one of the many sports cars. Bradley thought it was so cool that a girl as beautiful as Rosalie was also a great mechanic. If they guys at school knew that they would be drooling even more than they already did over the beautiful blonde.

"What are you two up to?" Rosalie asked as she looked up from the engine she was working on.

"We're bored," Emmett whined. "And Bradley won't agree with me on anything."

"That's because you are always wrong," Bradley retorted.

Rosalie just rolled her eyes and went back under the hood. Emmett walked over to a storage area in the corner of the garage and began searching through stacks of boxes. Bradley wandered over and watched him move things around until his face suddenly lit up.

"Dominoes!" he yelled. He triumphantly held up a huge box that had to be holding thousands of dominoes in it.

"Oooo!" Bradley jumped up and down. "We can make such a kick ass train with all of those!"

"Yesss! Let's go!" Emmett dashed into the house. Bradley ran as quickly as she could behind him but she still caught sight of Rosalie watching them with an eyebrow raised.

A couple of hours later Bradley and Emmett were putting their finishing touches on their domino creation. It trailed back and forth through the entire living room and over various pieces of furniture and up the ramps from scrap wood Emmett found.

Rosalie came in from the garage and surveyed the living room. She sighed and rolled her eyes and started to walk through to the kitchen.

"Rose! Be careful!" Emmett cried out as she passed by a particularly dicey section of their train. Emmett had already rebuilt that section three times because Bradley had knocked it over. Bradley insisted that she had nothing to do with the last time it fell because she was all the way across the room but Emmett still blamed her for it.

Rosalie gave Emmett a cold, hard look and he shrunk back and pouted a little. Bradley snickered at the sight of the huge vampire cowering and pouting but then Rosalie turned the look on her and Bradley felt the same cower/pout combination take her over as well. Rosalie rolled her eyes and continued on to the kitchen. Bradley and Emmett just looked at each other and shrugged.

A few minutes later they were finished. "People, you are going to want to see this," Emmett said in a normal volume but suddenly the whole family was there. Bradley hadn't noticed Edward had come back from his run but he apparently had. Even Carlisle was home for a change.

Most of the family looked around the living room with an amused look. Rosalie looked a little exasperated and Edward was brooding, as usual.

"You are about to witness engineering genius," Emmett declared as he poised his finger to push over the first domino in the train.

"Emmett!" Bradley cried out. He turned to look at her and a silent argument ensued. Bradley's eyes pleaded with Emmett and his returning look was one of frustration and annoyance.

It all ended with Bradley's look turning to pathetic puppy eyes and Emmett making a disgusted noise in his throat and snapping, "Fine!"

Bradley smiled sweetly as she walked over to the first domino and got ready to push it over. The whole family chuckled as Emmett pouted.

Bradley gently pushed the first domino and watched the train reaction. She and Emmett and were jumping up and down like small children on Christmas. They held their breath as the train approached the toughest section and when it all worked out they both yelled, "Yesss!" and then continued bouncing until the dominoes had all fallen.

"That was awesome!" they both cried in unison. They were still bouncing like idiots. Esme, Carlisle, Alice and Jasper were all laughing out loud at the two of them. Even Edward had a rare smile on his face.

Only Rosalie seemed put off. Her look was a little incredulous and one eyebrow was raised as she asked, "Are you sure you two aren't actually related?"

Emmett and Bradley looked at each other, shrugged and then looked back at Rosalie and grinned. Rosalie rolled her eyes and went upstairs.

An hour or so later, after Esme had fed her, Bradley sat down at Edward's piano and began to play. She was mostly just messing around, playing a few of her favorite pieces but eventually she came back to the piece she had attempted the first day she came to the Cullens' house. She now knew that it was a piece that Edward had composed for Carlisle and Esme. The sheet music was still sitting on the piano so she picked it up and looked through it again.

"Edward, how is this section supposed to go?" she asked referring to the section she'd had to cheat through the last time.

"You've got it right," he said, hearing it in her head.

"But I can't do it. My fingers won't move like that. Show me."

Edward sighed and she could hear the music in her head and see his fingers flying over the keys.

_That's not what I meant_, she told him.

_I know. Please, Brad_, Edward begged. Music was his escape, his happy place. He just wasn't feeling happy and couldn't bear to fake it.

Bradley sighed but didn't push him. She worked on the section for a little while before giving up and settling on a piece that was her mother's favorite.

"That was beautiful, Bradley," Esme beamed at her. Bradley couldn't be sure but she swore that Esme would have had tears in her eyes if that were possible. "Do you play any other instruments?"

Bradley shook her head. "I wish I could play the guitar. My friend, Cody, started to teach me but we both got busy. I wasn't very good. Of course, I didn't have a guitar to practice on either so I could only play when I was with him."

Suddenly, Jasper got up and left the room. Bradley wouldn't have thought too much about it except that Edward gave a small smile when he went. Jasper returned only a moment later with a guitar in hand.

"To practice," he said, handing it to her.

Bradley's jaw dropped. "I can't take this!"

Jasper shrugged. "It's ok. I've got another."

Bradley's eyes widened in disbelief. "You play the guitar?" she exclaimed.

Jasper and the other Cullens in the room chuckled. "We've all picked up various hobbies over the years. Music is one of them."

"Will you play something for me?" Jasper seemed surprised at her request but, with some coaxing from Alice and Esme, he relented.

Jasper took a seat and began to strum a few chords. He just strummed absently for a few moments before deciding on what he would play. He settled into a tune and then began to sing. Bradley was completely mesmerized. She was shocked at this side of Jasper. His voice was beautiful and the southern drawl which was so faint when he spoke was far more pronounced when he sang.

His song finished and he looked up rather shyly. Bradley's jaw was still practically on the floor, Alice was all but swooning and Esme was beaming again. Jasper cleared his throat and stood up to hand Bradley the guitar.

"And you'll teach me?" Bradley asked him.

Jasper's brow furrowed and he took a step back. "You want me to teach you? I don't know if that's..." he trailed off.

"Oh, please, Jasper! You're amazing!" For the second time that night Bradley unleashed the puppy eyes.

"Well," Jasper hesitated and looked at Carlisle who gave him the smallest nod of encouragement. "Sure. We can work on it when you're here."

"Oh! Thank you!" Bradley jumped up, meaning to hug Jasper but instead ended up over Emmett's shoulder.

"We've talked about that, Brad," Emmett reminded her.

"My bad," Bradley apologized, still hanging over Emmett's shoulder. "Sorry, Jazz."

Jasper snickered. "Don't worry about it. Put her down, Emmett. It's fine." He had already moved back across the room.

Once Emmett had put her down (none too softly, as usual) and she had straightened herself out, Bradley made herself comfortable on the couch between Edward and Esme. "I have a question," Bradley started.

"Of course you do," Emmett answered sarcastically.

She stuck her tongue out at him but continued. "Why are you all good at so many things?"

"Because we're smarter, better looking and all around awesome," Emmett said smugly.

Bradley rolled her eyes. "Then why'd you fail Calculus six times?" she retorted, remembering what Jasper had said after their first weekender.

"I've never failed Calculus!" Emmett pouted. "Since becoming a vampire," he muttered quietly under his breath.

Bradley and the Cullens laughed. "How many times did you fail before becoming a vampire?" she asked.

Emmett glared at her but she simply stared back ready to wait patiently. He finally sighed and answered, "Twice."

"But..." Edward coaxed.

"But I was taking it again when the bear mauled me. Jerk, you couldn't let that go, could you?" Emmett grumbled.

"How was it going the third time around?" Bradley asked in her most innocent tone already sure of the answer. Emmett didn't respond other than to glare at her which just made everyone laugh again.

"Still," Bradley said, giving Emmett a moment of reprieve. "It must be pretty cool to know that you can do anything."

"You can do anything you want, dear," Esme said, giving her a light hug.

Bradley smiled at her but shook her head. "Not really though. I mean, I know I can do some of the stuff you can do but, the fact of the matter is, I'm only human. At some point, I'll hit my limit."

"Ok, then I've got a question for you," Emmett said, getting over his pout.

At first, Bradley wasn't sure if the growl she heard in her head was audible to everyone else. But when Emmett glanced at Edward before continuing his question, she was sure he'd heard it too.

"Alice has seen visions of Bella becoming one of us," Emmett started. Edward's growl was definitely loud enough for everyone now. Emmett glanced at Edward again but pressed on. "She's never seen you like that though."

Bradley cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brow. "So what's your question, Emmett?"

"Why not? Do you want to be a vampire?" There was a low but distinct hiss from Rosalie upstairs. She apparently didn't like this line of questioning any more than Edward did.

Bradley considered the question carefully before answering. Edward had asked her a similar question over the summer and at the time she wouldn't have dreamed of leaving her family. Now that the Cullens had become like family to her as well, did that change her mind? She tried to imagine it. She knew that by becoming a vampire she would gain more than she could imagine. She'd never get old, never die, she'd be able to do all of the things she'd ever dreamed of doing and then some. But she still couldn't imagine not being able to see her parents or Tucker ever again. In fact, that thought hurt her so much her eyes began to fill with tears.

When Bradley looked up from her thoughts she could see six sets of golden eyes on her and she knew that Rosalie was listening upstairs. "I don't think I could do it," she answered truthfully.

xxxxxxxxx

_(another short A/N...sorry) don't you totally think that Jasper would be super hot and sexy with a guitar? *sigh* I have a song in mind that I would love to hear him sing...if you're interested in knowing, let me know...and tell me what you would like to hear him sing :)_


	23. Chapter 23

_Sorry guys, if anyone is still reading...I got sidetracked. There are a lot of really good stories here! I got so caught up in reading I forgot to continue with my own...I'll try to be better._

_Without further ado..._

**Chapter 22**

The next morning came way too quickly for Bradley's liking. She was still in a dead sleep when she heard a loud "She's coming to get you! You'd better get up!" in her head. The voice scared her so much that for the first time in her life Bradley went from being dead asleep to bolt upright and wide awake in an instant.

Terrified, she looked around her room. It took her a second to take in her surroundings and remember that she was in her room at the Cullens' home. There was no one else in the room with her and she couldn't figure out where the voice had come from until she heard a low chuckle.

"Dammit, Edward!" she yelled out loud, although she knew it was unnecessary. _Jerky, brooding vampire. Has nothing to say for days on end and decides now is a good time to speak up. Waking me up..._ she trailed off still grumbling in her head as the chuckling continued.

Bradley threw herself back onto the bed but even as she was hitting the pillow her door flung open and Alice pounced on her. Bradley whimpered a little as Alice sang, "Time to get up! Big day ahead!"

"What time is it?" Bradley groaned.

"Time to get up!" Alice repeated.

Bradley turned her head to see that it was 7:30. She was not pleased to be awake at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. "Alice, I get it. You don't have to sleep. But seriously? 7:30? You're killing me!"

"Bradley, we need to get an early start. We have to go all the way to Seattle, we have tons of stores to hit, and then we have to come back so you can learn how to use your new wardrobe!" Alice had pulled all of the covers off of Bradley's bed at this point and was literally pulling Bradley out of bed.

"Learn to use my new wardrobe? Alice! I know how to put clothes on!" Bradley protested.

Alice's only response was to raise an eyebrow in disbelief. "Get dressed. We're leaving in 20 minutes. Esme has breakfast waiting for you."

Bradley sighed and tossed on her favorite jeans/tank top/hoodie combo and then headed downstairs where the smells of french toast, bacon and eggs were wafting from. At least she'd get to start her day with a delicious meal before the torture began.

Bradley sat down at the bar counter and Esme handed her a plate loaded with enough food for three people. "Thanks, Esme!" Bradley said excitedly and dug in.

Esme smiled and watched Bradley enjoy her breakfast.

"Esme," Bradley said. "You don't have to make me food." Of course, her actions betrayed her words as she shoveled in another mouthful.

"You don't want me to cook for you?" Esme asked quietly. Bradley looked up to see genuine hurt in Esme's eyes.

"I do!" she exclaimed. "I just feel bad because I don't want you to go to any trouble. I mean, no one else eats around here. And you are buying groceries and cooking and I just don't want to be a pain."

"Too late for that!" Emmett called from the other room.

"Emmett," Esme warned but she turned to Bradley. "It isn't any trouble," she assured. "And you are most certainly not a pain."

"Esme," Bradley began in her questioning tone that the Cullens had definitely come to recognize. Esme smiled and waited for Bradley to ask what was on her mind. "How did you get to be such a good cook? I mean, you haven't eaten in like 80 years or something."

Esme laughed lightly. "I always enjoyed cooking. I couldn't wait to have a family to cook for and take care of. So you see, you are actually helping me by eating." She smiled affectionately at Bradley.

Bradley grinned back and took another huge bite. "I wish I could repay you somehow. Make you dinner or something," Bradley said wistfully.

"I'll take a grizzly. Raw. Preferably just out of hibernation," Emmett said, coming in from the living room.

"No prob, Em. Can I shoot it before I haul it back to you?" Bradley said sarcastically.

"No," Emmett said in disgust. "If you shoot it the blood gets all cold and then what good is it?" He and Bradley looked at each other with matching looks of repulsion but for very different reasons.

Bradley rolled her eyes and asked, "Anyone else have an order they'd like to place?"

"I could go for Edward's favorite," Carlisle, who had just appeared next to his wife, teased. "A nice mountain lion."

Bradley grinned at Carlisle, a little surprised that he was playing along with the silly game. Carlisle smiled back and gave her a wink. While Bradley had always found Carlisle to be a kind and loving man, she had never really pegged him to be a jokester.

_He's just been working when you've been here._ _Carlisle definitely has his moments_, Edward told her from somewhere in the house.

"Three minutes, Bradley," Alice warned, breaking into Bradley's relaxing and enjoyable breakfast.

Bradley pouted as Carlisle, Esme and Emmett chuckled. Well, Carlisle and Esme chuckled, Emmett downright guffawed. Jerk.

"Do you think if I'm not ready in three minutes, she'd leave without me?" Bradley whispered, knowing that her low volume didn't matter.

There was a growl from Alice as she leaned around the corner to glare at Bradley.

_She's actually planning on simply picking you up and carrying you out if you aren't ready to go. She'll do it too_, Edward warned.

Bradley sighed as Alice came around the corner. "Ready?" she asked but her tone left no room for an answer.

"I'm ready. No need to carry me out," Bradley pouted, resigned to her fate.

"Let's go then," Alice said. "Rose."

Bradley's eyes widened as Rosalie appeared at Alice's side. She had no idea that Rosalie was joining in on this trip and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Even though it was Jasper that struggled the most with control and maintaing the "vegetarian" diet, it was Rosalie that made Bradley the most nervous. She just didn't seem to like most people, Bradley included.

Bradley sighed, "Let's get this over with." She looked back and smiled weakly at Emmett, Carlisle and Esme. The three vampires looked back amused at Bradley's slightly overdramatic reluctance.

"Go easy on her," Emmett snickered as he gave Rosalie a quick kiss goodbye.

"Take that up with Alice," Rosalie nodded in her sister's direction as she was taking Bradley's arm to drag her out of the house.

The three girls piled into Rosalie's flashy red sports car and raced off to Seattle. Bradley kept her mouth shut since she knew complaining wouldn't help her situation. Plus, she was still a little intimidated by Rosalie's presence. She couldn't help but wonder if Alice intentionally brought Rosalie along to keep her from complaining the whole day.

"Where to first?" Rosalie asked as they approached their destination.

"Jeans," Alice answered definitively. Bradley just sighed.

When they got the store Alice was looking for Bradley's eyes bugged out of her head. "Alice! I can't afford anything in this store!"

Alice looked at Bradley with genuine confusion in her eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I can't afford anything in this store," Bradley repeated, not entirely sure how else to say it. Bradley had a little money saved from birthdays and Christmas and such but she had never had a job before because she had only turned 16 after the school year had already started. One pair of jeans from this designer store was going to wipe out her most of her savings.

"I don't expect you to buy anything," Alice replied.

"You threw out all of my clothes! If I don't buy anything I'll have nothing to wear! Alice, we have to go someplace else," Bradley pleaded.

Alice scowled. "Yes, _I_ thew out all of your clothes and _I_ will replace them. You're being ridiculous, Bradley."

"I can't let you spend this kind of money on me!" Bradley exclaimed. "It's too much!"

Alice and Rosalie both rolled their eyes. "Honestly, Bradley. Money isn't an issue. We've had a long time to build up our savings."

"And Alice's ability to predict the stock market doesn't hurt either," Rosalie smirked.

Alice just laughed but Bradley gasped, "That's cheating! Alice, I'm pretty sure that people get arrested for things like that!"

Alice rolled her eyes, "Well, when you report me I'll be sure to come visit you in your white padded cell."

Bradley pouted because she knew Alice was right. No one would believe that a future predicting vampire was playing the stock market and making a fortune. Not that she would actually have reported Alice or anything, it was just shocking to her.

"Enough excuses, Bradley. Let's go," Alice demanded. Bradley sighed and knew it was time to bite the bullet.

The moment they were in the store Alice was singled minded and focused. In a matter of minutes she had a dozen pairs of jeans in various cuts and washes and was shoving Bradley into a dressing room.

"Boot cut, dark wash first," Alice commanded as she followed Bradley into the large stall at the end.

"A little privacy please!" Bradley exclaimed with a blush rising on her cheeks. Alice huffed but left Bradley to change in peace.

A minute later Bradley called out, "Alice? I don't think these fit..."

"That is ridiculous! I know that they do," Alice declared. "Get out here!"

"Alice-"

"Now!"

Bradley sighed and opened the door to her stall. She tentatively stuck her head out to make sure that Alice was the only one in the dressing room before she stepped out. Luckily they had gotten there as the store was opening and there weren't many shoppers out at this hour.

"What are you talking about?" Alice yelled when she looked at Bradley. "They are perfect!"

"Alice! Do you not see how tight they are? My butt looks huge!" Bradley whisper yelled back.

A look of incredulity crossed Alice's face. "You've been wearing jeans two sizes too big for too long! You don't even know how they are supposed to fit!"

Just then, the sales clerk walked into the dressing room and gave Bradley a once over. "Those jeans make your butt look fantastic!" she exclaimed before walking back out.

"See?" Bradley and Alice hissed at each other at the same time.

"What do you mean 'see?'" Alice frowned. "She said you looked fantastic!"

"No she said my _butt_ looked fantastic. People are not supposed to notice your butt!"

Alice's face looked genuinely confused. "Bradley, you understand the difference between wearing jeans that fit and walking naked down the street, right?"

Bradley just shot Alice a dirty look.

"If someone notices that your clothes look good, that's not a bad thing," Alice continued. "You understand that, right?"

Bradley rolled her eyes. She was furious at the tears that were starting to well in her eyes.

"Bradley?" Alice's voice was soft now. "What's wrong?"

Bradley didn't trust her voice not to crack so she just shrugged and tried to escape into the dressing stall. Alice wouldn't let her.

"Brad? Talk to me. I can't hear your thoughts," Alice smiled wryly at the inside joke.

Bradley laughed once without humor but still didn't trust herself to speak.

"Bradley," a different voice said. Both Alice and Bradley turned to see that Rosalie had joined them. "Tell me something. What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

Bradley cleared her throat and looked at Rosalie with confusion on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. When you look in the mirror, what do you see?"

"Me?" Bradley had no idea where Rosalie was going with this but this was clearly not the answer she was looking for. Rosalie glared at her so she tried again. "Right now? I see a girl wearing jeans that are way too small."

"Are my jeans too small?" Rosalie asked.

Bradley looked at her. Rosalie looked gorgeous, as always. Her clothes fit perfectly and accentuated her perfect body. "Of course not, Rose. You look great."

Rosalie raised an eyebrow at her. "I was there when Alice took your measurements. We are the same size. If your jeans are too small then so are mine. If mine fit, then so do yours. Which is it?"

Bradley furrowed her brow. "Just because we are the same size doesn't mean that what looks good on you will look good on me," she countered.

"Bradley, what's with this insecurity?" Alice chimed in. "This isn't you. You never worry about what others are thinking about you. That's not to say that people don't love you but where is this coming from?"

"I'm just not comfortable in clothes that-" Bradley cut herself off when she caught Rosalie's expression. She looked like she was waiting for Bradley to insult her.

"Fit?" Alice finished for her.

Bradley scowled at Alice. "I'm just not used to it," she muttered.

"There's more to it than that. Spill," Alice demanded.

Bradley sighed. "Did Edward ever tell you about the first time we met?"

Eying Bradley warily, Alice tried to determine if she was just trying to change the subject. Deciding to play along she answered, "You were looking for s'mores ingredients and you said things as you thought them, not giving him much warning."

"That's all he said?" Bradley pressed.

Alice shrugged her agreement and Rosalie did the same when Bradley looked to her for confirmation.

"Well, I was surprised that he recognized me the second time we met-when I ran into him and Emmett on the hiking path. Of course, at the time I didn't know he could read minds. But I've changed a lot since then."

"How do you mean?" Alice's tone was much softer now that she realized that Bradley wasn't brushing her off.

"When I met Edward the first time, I was 12. I was a lot shorter than I am now and-" Bradley seemed to struggle for words here "built differently."

"Of course your body has changed since you were 12, Bradley. That's perfectly natural."

Bradley nodded. "I don't just mean the natural changes. I was-" again the struggle for words "pudgy."

Neither Alice nor Rosalie said anything but instead just nodded their understanding and waited patiently for Bradley to continue.

"I was always a pudgy kid. I was super active and ran around- a total tomboy, actually." No one was surprised by this revelation. "But I just stayed chubby. And lets not even talk about the glasses."

"Glasses?" both Alice and Rosalie asked. Bradley just nodded.

"Sometimes the kids made fun of me and I tried to joke around it all. We moved right before I started middle school and I started going to school with a whole new crop of kids. I decided that I would just be super friendly to everyone and hopefully they would like me and not care about my weight or the four eyes. For the most part it worked. My classmates were generally cool. Because I was decently athletic, I got along with the boys better than the girls but because I was the fat girl there wasn't any real resentment there. I was clearly 'one of the guys' so it was no big deal.

"Right before seventh grade I discovered volleyball. The campground we went to that summer had various kids programs and I fell in love with volleyball the first day. I was decent at it and it was fun so my parents were all for it. They encouraged me to keep playing the rest of that week and when my interest was still peaked at the end of our vacation, my mom looked into programs at home. Luckily she found one for kids my age and I got to play all that year.

"Eighth and ninth grade things started to really change for me. I grew like 6 inches in those two years and slimmed down a ton. I'm sure volleyball was a huge part. They had a development program for the eighth graders and the high school coach started working with the prospective players even when we were still in middle school and he had us on conditioning regimens that included running and weight training and even some nutrition counseling.

"By the end of ninth grade I was tall and kind of gangly and the glasses were gone. Coach suggested I get contacts so I wouldn't have to worry about my glasses sliding off my face while I played. And then I don't know what the heck happened. Because by the end of my sophomore year," Bradley waved from her shoulders down. "I didn't know what to do with all of it!" The statement would have been funny if not for the desperation in her voice.

"That's what we're here for, Brad," Alice responded gently.

"I just don't want to look foolish," Bradley said quietly and completely unsure of herself.

"Bradley Taylor! Do you really think that I would ever make you look foolish?" Alice was offended.

Bradley smiled weakly. "No, Alice."

"Then let's get back to work."

"Don't bother fighting, Brad," Rosalie warned. "The evil pixie will get her way. Besides, when we get you some decent clothes, my wardrobe will double." With that, Rosalie turned on her heal and walked out of the dressing room.

Bradley spent the rest of the day in and out of dressing rooms. At one point it dawned on her that Alice must know if something was going to fit before she put it on and she called Alice out on that. The response was, "Of course I know but _you_ need to see how good it looks." Alice then rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing ever.

When all was said and done, Bradley had an absurd amount of clothing. She didn't even want to think of how much it all cost. Alice had done a really good job of picking clothes that Bradley would be comfortable in. She basically took Bradley's usual look and kicked it up a notch. There were still jeans and tank tops but instead of zip up hoodies there were cute cardigans and other sweaters. Instead of long sleeve t-shirts with various teams or sporting events there were nicer blouses and even some cotton shirts that just fit closer to her body. Instead of flip flops there were dressier sandals and even a couple of pairs with heels (Bradley silently vowed not to touch those).

There were only two real moments of resistance on Bradley's part. The first was when they went bra shopping but that fight was squashed quickly. Alice looked straight into Bradley's eyes and let loose a low growl so menacing that Bradley actually took a step back in fear. Whether Alice foresaw that this was the best way to handle the situation or she was really frustrated, Bradley wasn't sure. Whatever the reason, it worked. Bradley didn't fight with her about it and, in the end, she reluctantly agreed to herself (never admitting it out loud to Alice) that her tops fit much better with a good bra on.

The other moment where Bradley almost put up a fight was when Alice bought her a couple of skirts and sundresses.

"Really, Alice? When am I ever going to wear these?" Bradley asked.

"When the weather is warmer, of course. You've got great legs, you should be showing them off!"

"It rains constantly here. I don't think there is ever going to be a day warm enough for me to wear a skirt or dress."

"Bradley, you live in southern California. Surely there will be a day when the weather will cooperate and you can wear a dress," Alice reminded her.

Bradley went silent because she hadn't really thought about this new look coming home with her. That thought frightened her although she wasn't entirely sure why. She decided to put it out of her head for the time being.


End file.
